With the Fourth of July fast approaching, a record-breaking 72.2 million Americans are preparing to travel for the holiday, according to AAA.
However, long-range forecasts indicate that a cold front may bring widespread storms to the northern Plains and Southeastern US on the Fourth, and there is even an outside potential for a home-grown tropical system to develop close to the Southeast coast during the holiday weekend, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
The record-breaking number of expected travelers is due in part to the holiday falling on a Friday this year, creating a built-in three-day weekend for many, Melanie Fish, a travel expert with Vrbo, told FOX Weather.
Ahead of America’s 249th birthday, thunderstorms are expected to develop across the Northeastern portion of the Interstate 95 corridor on Tuesday and could potentially impact flights at some of the country’s busiest air travel hubs.
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.
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