Upcoming East Coast Nor’easter Threatens Weekend Travel: What to Know

While the East Coast has avoided the worst of this year’s hurricane season, a looming nor’easter, set to hit a large swath of the coast this weekend, could cause its own headaches for travelers.

The storm, currently strengthening off the Mid-Atlantic coast, is expected to bring bad weather to the area starting as early as today. How much it impacts travel schedules after that remains up in the air. Here’s what we know so far:

The primary threat is coastal flooding, most likely starting on Friday evening and lasting through Saturday morning, spanning from the Mid-Atlantic all the way up through New England.Because of how large and slow-moving the storm is, there is a risk of persistent, heavy surf along the coast. Virginia and North Carolina’s Outer Banks have already experienced 2 to 4 feet of inundation from the system this week.

For travelers, however, the bigger threat is how the storm’s wind and rainfall could disrupt weekend schedules. The National Weather Service (NWS) anticipates winds of 25 to 30 mph inland and up to 45 mph along the immediate coast on Friday and Saturday. That will likely bring some isolated power outages as well.

Torrential rain is most likely to arrive starting Friday morning, according to the NWS, with the heaviest accumulation focused over eastern Long Island and coastal New England, where 2+ inches could fall. New York City is expected to see lower totals and minimal flood risk, unless the storm shifts closer to shore.

Ultimately, the severity of the travel impact depends on the storm’s track. A westward shift would bring the system closer to the coast, making departures and connections through New York City and surrounding hubs far more complicated.

As of Thursday morning, only one major carrier has issued a travel waiver for the storm.

JetBlue issued a weather fee waiver for flights from Friday, Sept. 25, through Sunday, Sept. 27. The waiver covers major NYC-area and New England airports-including JFK, LGA, EWR, HPN, ISP, BOS, PVD, ACK, MVY, and HYA. Passengers can rebook travel without change/cancel fees or fare differences through Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Delta, United, and American have not issued waivers yet, though that could change depending on how severely the storm impacts airline schedules over the next 24 hours.

For the cruise industry, while no major lines have announced official itinerary changes yet, Canada and New England sailings departing from or returning to Northeast ports—including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Cape Liberty, and Boston—could see schedule adjustments or port swaps as ships navigate heavy offshore seas.