Where could the weather affect Labor Day weekend travel?
AccuWeather's Ariella Scalese breaks down the holiday weekend travel forecast across the U.S., and we hear from AAA on how gas prices may affect people's plans.
Transcript
00:00 We already saw some long lines at airports today
00:02 in places like Orlando, Florida,
00:04 as people headed to their Labor Day holiday destinations.
00:07 You won't have too many travel issues
00:09 to deal with this weekend, at least due to the weather,
00:11 but you could see some delays on the West Coast
00:14 as rain and storms move in there.
00:16 Ariella Scalise has the details in tonight's Travel Outlook.
00:19 - Thanks, and yeah, let's look ahead to some travel plans
00:23 here as we head into the weekend,
00:25 because I do wanna point out some areas
00:27 that I think could be having some issues
00:28 because of storminess.
00:30 Now, a lot of the heat is taking over
00:32 the center part of the U.S.,
00:33 so that shouldn't impact travel,
00:35 but where we have those thunderstorms moving through
00:37 that could bring some heavy rain,
00:39 some gusty winds, some frequent lightning,
00:41 I think that's where maybe we could deal
00:42 with some of those delays into the Intermountain West
00:45 throughout parts of the Southwest.
00:46 I also think we could have some travel delays
00:48 in and around Arkansas, through Mississippi,
00:50 even near Memphis, down through Louisiana,
00:52 so heads up if you're traveling to New Orleans.
00:55 Meanwhile, lots of green on the map,
00:57 so overall travel should be pretty good
00:59 as we head into the weekend.
01:00 We track AccuWeather's U.S. flight cancellation forecast
01:03 here, where yeah, there could still be some cancellations,
01:06 but really anything under 200 is pretty good to go,
01:09 so if you chose this weekend to travel, you chose right.
01:12 All right, back to you.
01:14 - All right, Arie, good stuff, thank you for that.
01:16 For many, the Labor Day holiday signals
01:17 the end of summer driving season,
01:19 and gas prices have been increasing,
01:21 so AAA's Senior Public Affairs Manager, Robert Sinclair,
01:24 says paying at the pump might keep some
01:27 from hitting the road one last time this weekend.
01:30 - We're at 381 per gallon, and that's just a penny
01:33 less than where we were last year.
01:35 Prices were dropping rapidly at this time last year,
01:38 after they had hit more than $5 per gallon,
01:41 but we're still in the uncomfortable range.
01:43 40% of drivers tell us $3 a gallon is the pain point,
01:46 and 60% say $4 a gallon, and we're kinda close to that.
01:50 - Sinclair says there may be some relief
01:53 for future gas prices as refineries switch
01:55 to winter blends of gasoline later this month.
01:58 Those blends are often easier and cheaper to produce.
02:01 Kevin?
02:02 - Ah, the winter blend, I enjoy that.
02:04 - As like a hot cup of coffee.
02:05 - As a beverage when we go into winter.