Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Cold, wet weather possible before Thanksgiving

Darryl Hernandez will install Christmas decorations in the Civic Plaza on November 22, 2021. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis / )

Lots of people will be taking to the streets and hopping on planes this week as Thanksgiving travel bounce back to prepandemic levels.

Some travelers might struggle with difficult weather.

The National Weather Service in Albuquerque expects a storm system to hit New Mexico on Tuesday, with rain and mountain snow in the west of the state and windy conditions in the east.

Precipitation is then forecast for central New Mexico on Wednesday before continuing east on Wednesday night.

“Snow accumulations will favor the western and northern mountains, where a few to several inches of snow is possible,” the weather service website said with drier but cooler conditions returning for Thanksgiving Thursday.

With the system, snow depths are expected to drop to approximately 6,500 to 7,000 feet.

Greater Albuquerque can expect a 30% chance of rain and possibly snow showers from Tuesday to Wednesday, and a cooling off leads into the holidays. A high of 50 is forecast for Thursday, with an overnight low of 30.

Black Friday should be sunny with a high of 55 degrees, said the weather service.

AAA estimates 53.4 million people will be out on the holidays, up 13% year over year and within 5% in 2019, before the pandemic.

You can always find information about the state of federal highways on NMroads.com.

Airline passengers across the country are expected to hit pre-coronavirus levels, the Transportation Security Administration said, adding that travelers should expect long lines and plan to spend a little more time checking security.

That means you’ll leave earlier and get to the Albuquerque International Sunport, with enough time to navigate security to the gates.

Visit abqsunport.com for the latest information.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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