A nor’easter is expected to develop along the East Coast just as millions of travelers head to their Thanksgiving destinations.
Precipitation was forecast to sweep in from the south Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and exit the region on Thursday morning.
“I would pack your patience,” said Robert Sinclair of AAA New York. “Unfortunately, the storm is scheduled to hit right in the middle of getaway day.”
The precipitation is expected to start as rain before changing to wet snow in the afternoon and evening.
The New York City Department of Sanitation has issued a snow alert for Wednesday. Forecasters are calling for 1 to 3 inches of snow in and around the city with 3 to 6 inches of snow in the immediate suburbs.
Areas north and west of the city, including the Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut, could see as much as 6 to 10 inches of snow.
Forecasters say between 6 to 10 inches of snow are possible in northeast New Jersey, 4 to 8 inches of could fall along the Interstate 80 corridor, 3 to 5 inches are possible in parts of north Jersey and 2 to 3 inches could fall near the Interstate 95 corridor in Mercer and Somerset counties.
Officials at the three major airports in the New York City area were “monitoring weather forecasts carefully,” and were ready to take action if needed, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
All the major U.S. airlines were closely monitoring the situation but have not yet canceled flights or made any other changes.
American Airlines was allowing passengers flying to some Northeast cities on Wednesday to move their flight, for free, to Tuesday or Thursday. Delta Air Lines had a similar waiver for Wednesday flights to the region, but it was letting passengers only reschedule for flights on Thursday or Friday, which might be too late for many travelers.
Sinclair noted that an estimated 41.3 million travelers were expected to hit the nation’s highways for the holiday weekend. That’s a 4.3 percent increase over last year.
He suggested travelers consider traveling on Tuesday or Thursday, instead of Wednesday, if they can.
