AAA Advises: Leave Tuesday for Thanksgiving Travel, Due to Weather Forecast

AAA Mid-Atlantic is advising DC-area travelers to leave on Tuesday if possible, if they plan to drive north or west for Thanksgiving.

Some forecasters are calling for a “high impact” storm tracking north-northeastward along the Eastern Seaboard on Wednesday, one of the busiest long-distance travel days of the year, AAA notes in a news release Monday afternoon.

Most of Northern Virginia will escape snow but there will be accumulation as you head west into Loudoun County and farther, and all points north, mainly in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, says Ashley Sears, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Sterling office.

Precipitation will start falling Tuesday night and into the overnight hours Wednesday morning in Northern Virginia and turn into snow as it heads west and north, Sears said. AccuWeather notes that roads in the DC area will get worse throughout the day.

Given the potential for some nasty driving weather on Wednesday, motorists, who can, may want to consider leaving by personal vehicle on Tuesday, advises AAA Mid-Atlantic. Keep in mind, however, tomorrow, Tuesday, is the biggest travel day of the holiday period for Washington area residents, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ (MWCOG) Transportation Planning Board (TPB).

What time on Tuesday is the worst? “Between 5 and 6 p.m., the average speed dropped to its lowest point of the entire week, some 20 mph below the ‘free-flow’ speed one would expect without any traffic,” says the TPB.

“Wednesday can turn into a chaotic and frightening scene of events on the roadways along the East Coast,” said John B. Townsend II, Manager of Public Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “With over one million travelers in Washington, D.C., another 1.1 [million] in Virginia, and nearly 900,000 in Maryland taking to the roads this Thanksgiving, AAA is warning motorists to heed all travel warnings and stay home until road conditions improve.”

If you are sticking with your original travel plans, AAA Mid-Atlantic urges holiday travelers to refrain from traveling if possible until the storm completely passes and it is safe to travel again.

“Each year, 24 percent of weather-related vehicle crashes occur on snowy, slushy or icy pavement and 15 percent happen during snowfall or sleet,” according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). All told, 46.3 million Americans are traveling for the holidays.

AAA advice for drivers when driving in wintry weather

• Increase following distance – Increase your following distance to at least 10 seconds to allow yourself time in the event you or the car in front of you loses control. The stopping distance required on ice at zero degrees Fahrenheit is twice the amount required at thirty-two degrees.
• Use extra caution on bridges and overpasses – Bridges and overpasses freeze first and melt last. Therefore, use extra caution as the roadway leading up to the bridge may appear fine but the bridge itself could be a sheet of ice.
• Accelerate slowly – Traction is the greatest just before the wheel starts to spin; therefore accelerating slowly will increase your grip on the road.
• Ease off the gas pedal – If your tires begin to slip or you begin to skid, ease off the gas pedal until you regain control of the vehicle.
• Brake slowly and gently – Slamming on the brakes on ice or snow covered roads dramatically increases your risk of losing control of your vehicle.
• Control the skid – In the event you find your car is skidding, ease off of the accelerator or brake, and steer in the direction you want the front of the car to go.
• Never use cruise control – Cruise control is not recommended when snow or ice is on the road. Drivers should be in full control of the vehicle at every second.
• Drive in cleared lanes – Changing lanes unnecessarily puts you at greater risk of hitting a patch of ice between lanes that may cause you to lose control of the vehicle.

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