As Thanksgiving travelers took to the roads, rails and air Tuesday, the National Weather Service's North Little Rock branch issued several tornado warnings as high winds moved across Arkansas.
Pope and Van Buren counties were under a tornado warning until approximately 5 p.m., and most of central and eastern Arkansas was under a tornado watch until 10 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
A tornado warning for northeast Faulkner, northwest White and south Cleburne counties was issued at 4:15 p.m. and canceled at approximately 4:30 p.m., meteorologist Erik Green said Tuesday.
"We have a very tricky forecast situation going on," he said. "We have an environment that isn't conducive to strong storms, but that doesn't mean we won't have them."
A cold front was expected to begin moving eastward across the state starting about 10 p.m., and it was likely to end the severe weather possibilities, the meteorologist said.
"We will continue to monitor the situation," Green said. "It doesn't seem like a very typical thing, but as we approach the cold season, this is what we typically see."
The turbulent weather occurred as travel experts said they anticipate the long holiday weekend to be among the busiest on record.
"Regardless of when [they] leave, motorists need to understand there is a lot of traffic out there in the highway system, and the rain moving through isn't going to help any," said Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Nationwide, more than 55 million people are expected to travel 50 or more miles away from home this Thanksgiving, a year-over-year increase of 2.9%, according to AAA.
Those traveling in and out of Arkansas will be doing so while temperatures drop and rain clouds hover.
"We have several showers and thunderstorms that will be affecting the state for the next few days," said Brian Smith, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock. "Much of the [holiday] weekend will be rainy."
The weather has added a wrinkle to the traveling season, particularly for those driving through the northern part of the state. Rain appeared in the forecast late Monday, and it is expected to continue on and off through the week.
Yet Straessle and other travel watchers don't expect the wet and chilly weather to thwart many travel plans.
At Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, traffic is expected to increase as much as 5% compared with last year, airport spokesman Shane Carter said.
"We're expecting a little more than 84,000 people to use the airport during the 11-day Thanksgiving period," Carter said. The 11-day period began Friday and runs through Monday.
Since the start of the high-intensity travel period, there have been no significant disruptions at the airport in spite of the anticipated changes in the weather.
"Things have been very smooth," Carter said. "There are so many emotions at the airport this time of year, especially when families arrive to greet loved ones or excited passengers depart to see relatives."
Regardless, security lines have moved without any issues, he said.
Carter said area weather conditions won't cause too many issues, but more significant weather problems at connecting hubs might still cause some delayed flights. The weather in Atlanta is expected to be mild aside from some rain today and Sunday. Dallas is expected to have significant rainfall beginning Thursday, and Chicago will be cold, cloudy and windy during the week, according to weather forecasts.
Little Rock and other parts of central Arkansas are expected to have temperatures ranging from the upper 30s to the upper 60s for the remainder of the week. The chilliest weather will come Sunday, when temperatures will mostly remain in the 30s and 40s, Smith said.
More and more people are hitting the road or air terminals because of a strong economy and lower gas prices, according to AAA.
"Millions of thankful Americans are starting the holiday season off right with a Thanksgiving getaway," AAA Travel Vice President Paula Twidale said earlier this week. "Strong economic fundamentals are motivating Americans to venture out this holiday in near-record numbers."
She went on to say that consumer spending "remains strong" because of higher wages and more disposable income. Confident spenders lead not only to more shoppers, but also to more travelers.
Many of those Thanksgiving travelers got a head start this year.
Straessle said Transportation Department officials started seeing an increase in traffic as early as Thursday. Travelers should continue to occupy the highways in large numbers today and on Thanksgiving, mostly by those taking localized trips.
Contractors won't be working, but work zones will remain. Straessle warned motorists to be on the lookout for closed lanes and lowered speed limits, particularly along Interstate 30 in southwest Arkansas.
He called the I-30 corridor through Prescott "a major pinch point."
RELATED ARTICLE
https://www.arkansa…">Storms serving up holiday chaos
Metro on 11/27/2019