CLEVELAND — As millions of Americans get ready to hit the road and take to the skies to gather with loved ones for the holidays, a winter storm is threatening to make travel difficult.
A long line of cars extended out onto the road at the GetGo gas station in Broadview Heights for the air pump, as drivers were making sure that their tires were topped off in the bitter cold.
"When it gets cold, the air pressure drops," explained one driver.
AAA is urging all drivers to perform a winter checkup on their cars before heading out.
"Especially with the winter weather being forecasted, you want them to check your battery especially if it's three years or older," said Lynda Lambert, spokesperson for AAA in Ohio. "You want them to check your tires, your windshield wiper blades, all your fluids, to make sure that your car is in excellent condition," she reminded drivers.
But drivers will want to pay attention to the timing of the winter storm when you make your travel plans. Officials from the Ohio Department of Transportation are especially concerned about rain on Thursday, quickly transitioning to a hard freeze on Friday.
"The rain on Thursday is really going to be a challenge, because it's not really going to allow us to pretreat [the roads]," said Matt Bruning, press secretary for ODOT. "So we can't really get ahead of the storm and lay any of that pre-treatment down, because it would simply wash right off." Bruning is also wary about the potential flash freeze of all wet surfaces, "and since we're not able to pretreat, that's really going to hamper our ability to get ahead of it," he added.
One helpful tool for your travel plans is ODOT's OHGO website, which shows real-time traffic updates, and views of major roads through more than one thousand cameras across Ohio.
If you're traveling by air, airlines like American Airlines are offering to waive some change fees for passengers who want to avoid potential weather delays and cancellations. The airline issued a Midwest travel alert for select cities including Chicago and Minneapolis. Passengers who are ticketed for travel to, from, or through these cities on December 21 - 23 will be allowed to reschedule their flight to the same cities of origin and destination for travel between December 19 - 30, without incurring change fees.