Nov 25, 2014 3 min read

For some Thanksgiving eve travelers, snow stands between home and a turkey dinner.

“We’re expecting a storm, and of course it’s on the busiest travel day of the year,” said Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jamie Legenos.

The day before Thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest travel day of the year, and this year is projected to have more traffic than roads have seen since 2007.

National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks forecasted only about one inch of snow will fall today in Washington and Greene counties. But conditions are expected to be much worse to the east Wednesday, with travel disruptions expected up and down the East Coast.

In Somerset and east near State College, a winter weather advisory is in effect from Wednesday morning to evening. Somerset is expected to get three to five inches of snow and four to six inches are expected heading east down the turnpike from Somerset.

Travelers headed east on the turnpike through Laurel Ridge and Chestnut Ridge should expect two to four inches of snow. The same is expected for drivers taking Route 68 east through Morgantown, W.Va., to Washington, D.C. Garrett County, Md., also has a storm watch in effect Wednesday with three to five inches of snow expected.

“Basically, if you’re wanting to head east anywhere, the optimal would be to leave today or delay the trip until Thursday,” Hendricks said.

Most of the snow will have fallen by Wednesday evening.

“There will be some lingering snow Wednesday night but nothing that’s really going to add to the accumulation,” he said.

A positive of the storm is that there will be no freezing rain. “At least we don’t have that complication,” he said.

PennDOT and Turnpike Commission spokeswomen said maintenance crews will be on hand 24/7 to salt roads and clear snow. But they asked drivers to plan in advance and travel slowly.

Turnpike spokeswoman Renee Vid Colburn said the most heavily traveled sections of the turnpike will be in Montgomery County between the Mid-County Interchange and Fort Washington Interchange. Traffic delays are expected Wednesday from 3 to 8 p.m. and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

She said last year, about 400,000 vehicles were on the turnpike the day before Thanksgiving.

AAA attributed a high number of travelers partially to lower gas prices. The price of gas statewide is the lowest in nearly four years.

“Gas prices continue to drop a little bit each day,” said AAA Director of Public Affairs Chelsea Pompeani. “A lot of people are taking advantage of that and traveling by car this Thanksgiving.”

The average gas price in Washington County is $2.96, according to Pompeani.

She said 46 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving, and 41 million of those will be traveling by car.

“That’s almost 90 percent of drivers that are going to be traveling by car,” she said. “That’s a huge number.”

Travelers can help plan their trip with information available on aaa.com/mobile, 511PA.com and Turnpike Roadway Information program at www.paturnpike.com.