A Rainy, icy, windy, yucky Thanksgiving forecast

11/26/2013 (Permalink)

(CNN) -- The nasty weather tantrum that has already left a mess on its march from California through Texas and soaked the South is now expected to ice up roads in the Northeast.

So if your spouse is mad that you put off making Thanksgiving travel plans, you can respond that you may have actually done your family a favor.

The whole family may be glad you stayed at home, as a wintry storm threatens to upend the best-laid plans.

"All of these interstates, all of these roads across Pennsylvania -- the Thruway, the Turnpike, 80, 90, 66 -- they all will have ice and snow," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

If you're driving ...

Snowmageddon won't hit any of the major cities. And it may only rain on the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

But west of the Big Apple, and around Philadelphia and Boston, the wicked weather will pile snow onto roadways, just as far-flung relatives are zipping in to town.

AAA projects that 38.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday.

Drive carefully.

The storm has already left more than 100 wrecks and claimed at least 12 lives.

If you're flying ...

With an estimated 3.14 million Americans taking to the skies this week to eat turkey with loved ones, planes will be as stuffed as bellies.

Passengers on nearly 500 flights out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport had to find alternate routes when the storm iced the area over the weekend.

The outlook, however, was positively rosy early Tuesday morning. None of the major airlines had cancellations planned.

"We decided to leave early, and we're just going to keep our fingers crossed," said Beth Hundley, who was taking a flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Des Moines, Iowa.

But the snowy weather has yet to hit its target. It should finish icing up New England by Friday.

"The issue they run into is if you cancel one flight, there may not be capacity on the later flights to accommodate all the displaced passengers," said Daniel Baker, who runs flight tracking website FlightAware.com.

The weather may put a further dent in the trip home, as winds rev up to 40 miles per hour as the holiday wraps up, Myers said.

It could make flying harder and cause some of you to miss work Monday.

And then you'll have to deal with an angry boss.