A day after a tornado tore through the Houston area, much of the South remained on alert for additional severe weather just as Thanksgiving travel began to surge.

In a Tuesday, Nov. 25 forecast, the Storm Prediction Center warned that isolated severe storms could develop across parts of the Southeast and Deep South through the early evening. “A couple tornadoes are possible in parts of eastern Mississippi and central Alabama,” the center said.

The storms are part of a broad, powerful system expected to create major travel disruptions into Wednesday, Nov. 26—the busiest travel day of the year.

“Widespread travel delays will mount across the United States in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, with severe storms, thick fog, flooding rain, and even a blizzard in the forecast,” AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. A record 82 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday, according to the American Automobile Association.

Stormy South and East

Heavy and locally severe thunderstorms were likely from eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina down to southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the western Florida Panhandle, Sosnowski noted. As the storm line pushes east, it could trigger disruptive downpours along the Interstate 85 corridor and may lead to airport ground stops in cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans.

By later today (Nov. 25), the National Weather Service said the system would bring a period of enhanced rainfall to the central Appalachians and interior Mid-Atlantic before sweeping into New England overnight.

Winter Weather Threat

While light snow was already falling across the northern Plains on Tuesday, moderate to heavy snow is expected to spread across the upper Great Lakes on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Rain across the rest of the Great Lakes region is forecast to transition to snow from west to east Wednesday night into Thanksgiving morning as an intensifying low-pressure system moves through.