A guide for residents of the Bay Area, visitors

If you want to create a record number of vacation trips, you are in the right place.

AAA data predicts that 54.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during Thanksgiving. It's almost a 5% jump from last year.

But wait, there is more! The 2018 vacation period, which begins Wednesday and ends Sunday, will experience the largest volume of Thanksgiving trips in more than twelve years. And that is equivalent, it is said, to adding 2.5 million more people to the country's roads, skies, rails and waterways compared to last year.

So get ready, residents of the Bay Area. Here are some tips to make this annual trip to Turkeytown a little more manageable:

Prepare for the stalemate

The global INRIX Mobility Analysis Company predicts that travel times in the most congested cities in the United States could be four times longer than a normal trip – for the nearly 50 million Americans planning a road trip in Thanksgiving – and we are watching you, San Francisco. Like New York and Boston, drivers in the Bay Area can expect a trip time almost four times more normal. And while the AAA-defined Thanksgiving holiday begins Wednesday and ends Sunday, experts say Bay Area commuters can expect crowded highways starting on Tuesday.

Plan accordingly

Trevor Reed, Transportation Analyst at INRIX, will advise you to drive: "Thanksgiving is one of the busiest holidays for road trips and this year will be no different," he says. "Knowing when and where congestion will develop can help drivers avoid the stress of sitting in traffic. Our advice to motorists is to avoid travel times in major cities or to plan alternative routes. "

Avoid this stretch of the Bay Area Highway

People at INRIX have somehow figured out exactly where and when your worst ride will be. Drum Roll, please … Interstate 680 Northbound, Exit 8 (Highway 237 / Calaveras Boulevard Westbound to Milpitas) to 21 (Highway 84 Eastbound towards Livermore ), from 1 pm to 3 pm Wednesday. How is it for specificity?

A mixture of smoke and showers

If you take the plane this week, be aware that flight delays at Bay Area airports due to the fire in Butte County continue to hinder air passengers entering and exiting the airport. 39, OFS, OAK and SJC. Even though air quality should continue to improve, due to rain showers expected late Tuesday or early Wednesday, ABC-7 reported Tuesday that 50 flights so far to SFO have recorded delays. Although this may represent a clear improvement over Monday, when 250 flights were affected, the station said Tuesday morning that the visibility at the OFS had just gone six to three miles away because of the Smoky air – another example of the air quality in the Bay Area being completely in motion.

Get ready for rain (and snow)

The National Weather Service updated Tuesday the total projected rainfall for the first of two expected storms this week, two highly anticipated balsams in a Bay Area environment severely beaten by Butte County Wildfire smoke. . These will not be gigantic storms that will cause big delays in flights, but they will pour rain into the area and clean up the naughty air, said forecasters. Most of the rain comes early Wednesday. And although precipitation is expected to be generally mild to moderate with a possible "brief period of heavy rain," according to the meteorological service, they will still cover our roads with oily water, which will make the day even more painful. The projected total precipitation for the first system in the Bay Area includes 0.61 inches in San Francisco, 0.57 inches in Concord and half an inch in San Jose. The second system arrives on the day of Turkey, when the total precipitation from Thursday afternoon to Friday combine to reach a total of three inches in the North Bay at the end of the week. Finally, it is likely that the Sierra Nevada will receive snow Wednesday and Thursday above 6,000 to 6,500 feet, according to the weather service.

It's not over until it's over

For starters, you have already missed the best day of the Thanksgiving season, Monday, according to experts. Beyond that, travel professionals say the best days to travel will be Thanksgiving Day, Friday or Saturday. And watch the final curtain: Sunday travel times, whether on land or air, should be particularly painful, as most vacationers return home after the long weekend.

Think outside the box (Thanksgiving trip)

Here's a crazy idea: make your Thanksgiving trip for Thanksgiving! If you can, take action on Turkey Day because, as SmarterTravel members point out, traveling for Thanksgiving is usually a good deal because very few people want to do it. "Most people want to be at their destination on the morning of Thanksgiving, without going to the airport," they say. "But if you can fly early in the morning, you will usually find lower fares and more empty airports, and we hope to arrive in time for an afternoon dinner."

Take a getaway if you can