Heavy snow, freezing rain and strong wind gusts are expected to hit New England Sunday afternoon up until Tuesday. Officials are gearing up for the snow storm and caution travelers on this busy holiday season.
"Anyone traveling this weekend is advised to closely monitor the forecast," said MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver. "We encourage motorists traveling home from the Thanksgiving holiday to leave early and leave enough time to safely get to their destination."
The Massachusetts Port Authority is advising travelers to plan ahead and provide extra time. The skies and roads are expected to be crowded after Thanksgiving.
AAA predicts that 55 million people will be traveling this Thanksgiving weekend and one million will be flying through Boston Logan International Airport.
"We want to do everything we can to make travel as stress-free as possible for everyone flying in and out of Logan Airport this holiday season," said Massport CEO Lisa Wieland, in a statement. "This week is the start of the busiest time of year at Logan and we will have extra staff on hand to help passengers, but we encourage everyone to plan ahead to help ensure a smooth holiday travel experience."
Large crowds are expected at the airport. JetBlue, American Airlines and Delta Airlines are waiving flight change and cancellation fees for today’s storm. Those traveling by plane may experience flight delays and cancellations with the storm.
As of 9:49 a.m., Sunday morning, Logan Airport is experiencing major delays in and out of the airport.
MassDOT officials encourage drivers to be off the roads by 3 p.m. for those west of I-495 and by 5 p.m. for those east of I-495. At this time there is no travel ban for Massachusetts. MassDOT will deploy ice and snow operations throughout the state.
The MBTA announcing that 350 personnel are treating passenger areas, activating switch-heaters and will respond to incidents such as downed trees. The Emergency Operations Center will be active tonight. The MBTA asks passengers to follow and subscribe to T-Alerts at MBTA.com and to use caution when moving around outside and to dress warm.
