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Weekend areas of snow, rain from coast to coast (with forecast video)

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

For the first time in about two weeks, no significant snowstorms or tropical systems are impacting travel across the continental U.S., and it should stay quiet for a while.

Truckers will hit areas of precipitation in several regions over the next few days, but it shouldn’t be anything they can’t handle.

Look for periods of light to moderate snowfall and rainfall in the Cascades, Rockies, Great Lakes and Northeast from Friday through next Tuesday. Sleet or freezing rain will be possible in a few spots. Major disruptions in freight flows and supply chains are unlikely to happen.

Even the tropics are calm. There’s only a 20% chance of a tropical depression forming off the East Coast over the next three to five days, and there’s nothing brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a nice change of pace considering that 30 named storms have developed in the Atlantic in 2020, which is a single season record.


Drivers — especially flatbed drivers who have to spend a lot of time outside their trucks — should be extra careful in southern Oregon. High pressure and very little wind will result in bad air quality Friday through Sunday morning. This includes the Interstate 5 corridor from the California-Oregon border to Medford and Roseburg, as well as places east of Crater Lake National Park. The National Weather Service has issued an air stagnation advisory for these areas.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.

Nick Austin

Nick is a meteorologist with 20 years of forecasting and broadcasting experience. He was nominated for a Midsouth Emmy for his coverage during a 2008 western Tennessee tornado outbreak. He received his Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Florida State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Management from the Georgia Tech. Nick is a member of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association. As a member of the weather team at WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee, Nick was nominated for a Mid-South Emmy for live coverage of a major tornado outbreak in February 2008. As part of the weather team at WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Nick shared the Chattanooga Times-Free Press Best of the Best award for “Best Weather Team” eight consecutive years.