Record travel expected. When can Illinois drivers expect the worst Thanksgiving traffic?
There’s good news for Illinois residents among the record-breaking number of Americans expected to travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving this year: gas prices are down significantly from last year.
Auto club AAA expects 79.9 million people across the nation to travel for Thanksgiving, 1.7 million more travelers than 2023. This year’s forecast includes the Tuesday before and Monday after Thanksgiving for the first time.
Here’s when AAA expects traffic to be the worst and best around Thanksgiving in the U.S.:
Monday, Nov. 25: 1 to 5 p.m. will be the worst time to travel due to traffic, while it will be better to hit the road before 11 a.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 26: 1 to 7 p.m. will be the worst time to travel; before 10 a.m. will be the best.
Wednesday, Nov. 27: 1 to 5 p.m. will be the worst time to travel; before 10 a.m. will be the best.
Thanksgiving Day: Minimal effects on traffic are expected.
Black Friday: 7 to 10 a.m. will be the worst time to travel; after 1 p.m. will be the best.
Saturday, Nov. 30: 4 to 8 p.m. will be the worst time to travel; before 1 p.m. will be the best.
Sunday, Dec. 1: Noon to 6 p.m. will be the worst time to travel; before 1 p.m. will be the best.
Monday, Dec. 2: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be the worst time to travel; before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m. will be the best.
Illinois’ average gas price is $3.193 as of Nov. 20, compared to $3.482 per gallon this time last year, according to AAA. The organization reports the East St. Louis metro area has a current average gas cost of $3.152, down from $3.435 per gallon last year.
What will the weather be like near Belleville for Thanksgiving?
The week of Thanksgiving is likely to have above-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation, National Weather Service St. Louis office meteorologist Lydia Jaja said in a recent interview with the News-Democrat.
This doesn’t mean the holiday will definitely be hot and rainy, Jaja said, but the temperature is more likely than not to be above 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the St. Louis and metro-east areas.
This month has seen much more rain than is typical in the region, making this the second-wettest November on record, according to the NWS.
An average November would see about 2.98 inches of precipitation in the St. Louis region, and 9.27 inches of precipitation have been reported so far. The influx in rain came after the region battled a drought period. Nov. 4 and Nov. 5 broke daily records for rain, Jaja said, with 3.75 inches and 3.89 inches of precipitation recorded at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, respectively.
“We do have a cold front coming that’s going to drop temperatures from the well-above average that we’re seeing now closer to the average starting Wednesday on,” Jaja said.
The federal Climate Prediction Center’s seasonal outlook reports the metro-east has a 33 to 40% chance of above-normal temperatures from November through January, with equal chances of above- or below-normal precipitation.
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