With the Fourth of July fast approaching, a record-breaking 72.2 million Americans are preparing to travel for the holiday, according to AAA.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, long-range predictions suggest that a cold front might bring widespread storms to the northern Plains and the Southeastern US around the Fourth of July. There is also a slight chance that a local tropical system could form near the Southeast coast during the holiday weekend.
The record number of travelers anticipated this year is partly because the holiday lands on a Friday, providing many people with a built-in three-day weekend, explained Melanie Fish, a travel expert with Vrbo, to FOX Weather.
As America approaches its 249th birthday, thunderstorms are forecasted to develop throughout the Northeastern part of the Interstate 95 corridor on Tuesday, which could potentially affect flights at some of the nation’s busiest airports.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the nation’s busiest, could also see storms on Tuesday as afternoon thunderstorms could fire across the Southeast and southern Plains ahead of the aforementioned cold front.
Dry conditions are expected to return to the Northeast, Midwest and northern Plains by Wednesday.
The Northeast, mid-Atlantic and most of the country west of the Rocky Mountains will be dry on the holiday itself.
Meanwhile, Independence Day fireworks displays and barbecues could be dampened in the front-range of the Rockies, the Midwest, and the Southeast.
The vast majority of the country will not see extreme heat during the holiday weekend.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, early forecast models show that a stalled cold front will drape over the southeastern US, from Louisiana to North Carolina, beginning on the Fourth of July and lasting through the weekend.
While it has been a slow start to the hurricane season in the Atlantic basin, warm waters conducive for tropical development remain in the Gulf and off the coast of the southeastern US.
The presence of an area of low pressure in this region has created a non-zero chance for the development of a tropical system.
Regardless of development, tropical moisture will enhance rainfall totals through Independence Day weekend for the Southeast.
