Nebraskans traveling for Thanksgiving will get decent weather, lower gas prices

More than 55 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles this week for Thanksgiving, according to AAA, about 2.3% more than last year.

If you're one of them, you are likely to enjoy good weather and lower expenses.

The weather forecast for the Lincoln area is a mixed bag on temperatures. On Wednesday, the traditional day when the most people travel, the forecast calls for clear skies and a high in the upper 50s. Highs will drop into the 40s on Thanksgiving and into the 30s Friday and Saturday.

That will mean people going to the Iowa-Nebraska football game will need to bundle up, but the good news is that the Lincoln area should miss out on the snow that is forecast for western and central parts of the state.

Whether you are flying or driving, you should encounter relatively good weather nationwide on Wednesday.

Accuweather is forecasting good travel weather conditions almost from coast to coast on Wednesday. There will be a few pockets of the country with fair weather conditions, mostly the Pacific Northwest and the East Coast, but the only place forecast to have poor travel weather on Wednesday is northern New England.

Still, those flying should get to the airport earlier than normal to account for delays. Eppley Airfield said in a news release Monday that fliers should arrive two hours before their scheduled flights.

Eppley also said it is expecting more than 180,000 travelers this week, nearly 5% more than last year.

Nationally, about 4.7 million people are expected to travel by plane this year. That's a 6.6% increase from 2022 and would break the record set in 2005, according to AAA.

The average Thanksgiving airfare of $268 is not only 14% cheaper than it was last year, according to travel booking site Hopper, it's 7% cheaper than at the same time in 2019. Car rental fees also are cheaper, down about 17%, according to Hopper.

People who are driving to their destination will benefit from much lower gas prices. As of Monday, the national price of unleaded gas was $3.31 a gallon, 25 cents cheaper than a month ago and 37 cents cheaper than at this time last year.

Prices are even lower in Nebraska, which had an average price of just under $3.11 a gallon as of Monday, down 38 cents from a month ago and 35 cents from a year ago.

Hundreds of stations across the state, including a few in Lincoln, had gas for less than $3 a gallon as of Monday, according to GasBuddy.com .

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