Thanksgiving travel CHAOS: Millions of travellers halted across the US as snowstorms peak

A powerful snowstorm swept across Colorado and into the Midwest on Tuesday which blocked roads and caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled. For those hoping to fly or drive across the nation for their Thanksgiving feasts this week, it could be a tough journey.

The storm has so far dumped a foot (30cm) of snow on parts of Colorado.

The state’s capital, Denver, has also been paralysed by wind gusts of 45 miles per hour (72kph).

So far, nearly 500 flights have been cancelled and more than 350 delayed at Denver International Airport.

One traveller said on Twitter: “We just landed at the Denver Airport! Crazy conditions. Literally 0 visibility.”

The unlucky traveller posted a photo of a runway blanketed in snow.

Across the US, a huge 55 million travellers planned to fly or drive at least 50 miles (80km) across the country on the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, according to the Automobile Association.

But for many travellers, this will be a huge issue.

Another said: “Nothing like starting Thanksgiving break with boarding the plane in the snow, sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours.”

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Food stores that are already fully stocked ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday are likely to be bombarded in coming days.

One cashier said: “So far so good. It doesn’t seem to be impacting us much.

“Probably later throughout the day it might.”

A stronger storm is expected to hit northern California and Oregon later on which could drop one or two feet (30cm to 90cm) of snow across mountainous areas.

The NWS said in a tweet about California: “Much worse conditions expected later this afternoon and tonight with nearly impossible travel with heavy snow and white out conditions.”

Weather.com shows that Reno, parts of San Francisco, Salt Lake City and even Las Vegas will be hit by snow throughout the week.

Thanksgiving will fall on Thursday 29 November this year.

Around 96 percent of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving this year.

More than 165 million people shopped over the five-day period in 2018.

Around 53 percent of people are dreading having to talk politics at the dinner table on Thanksgiving.

source: express.co.uk