Traveling for Thanksgiving? Will Atlanta's weather impact your plans?

Thanksgiving week forecast

Expect temperatures to be 10-15 degrees above average ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

ATLANTA - Atlanta and north Georgia are heading into Thanksgiving weekend with unusually warm weather and a growing chance for rain, setting the tone for one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Thanksgiving weekend in Atlanta

FOX 5 Storm Team meteorologist Alex Forbes said national outlooks show a wide stretch of above-average temperatures across the eastern half of the country during the Thanksgiving window.

"We are the bullseye," Forbes said. "From Maine down to Florida over to Montana, Oregon. Yeah, all expecting to be above average November 21st to the 25th."

Forbes said the warm pattern is tied to Gulf air that settled over the Southeast. "Somebody picked up the air mass over the Gulf and just plopped it on top of the southeastern United States," he said.

That warmth extends through the holiday itself, with highs in Atlanta expected to run five to ten degrees above normal and temperatures in the north Georgia mountains staying mild for late November.

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Traveling to or through Atlanta?

Rain enters the picture as the long weekend begins. Forbes said he is "watching what’s going on out to the west, looking for some showers overnight Friday into Saturday," noting that the setup appears to favor "a wet stretch of days" as Thanksgiving approaches. He added that the pattern will give the region "the opportunity for several days" of on-and-off showers, which is significant given the current rainfall deficit.

Holiday drivers across north Georgia may encounter scattered showers beginning Friday night and continuing at times through the weekend. Conditions are not expected to be constant rain, but intermittent wet roads could slow traffic during peak travel hours.

Air travelers may also feel the ripple effects if a broader system develops across the eastern half of the country.

Thanksgiving weekend

What we know:

Long-range outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center show warmer-than-normal temperatures from the Deep South to New England. That could help reduce winter-style delays, especially across major airline hubs on the East Coast and Southeast.

Precipitation chances, however, are elevated across much of the central and eastern United States. That increases the odds of rain-related delays in some of the nation’s busiest travel corridors, including routes running through the Mississippi Valley, Midwest, Appalachians, and Southeast.

Areas farther west, including parts of California and the Southwest, lean drier under a ridge pattern, although light winds could lead to haze or reduced visibility in some pockets.

Thanksgiving weekend in Atlanta and north Georgia looks warmer than usual with increasing chances for showers starting Friday night. While widespread washouts are not expected, the pattern could slow drivers and contribute to delays across regional and national travel routes as the holiday rush peaks.