"Weather" by car or by plane, understanding the national forecast will improve your holiday travel

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As holiday travel ramps up through the rest of the week and weekend, understanding the national picture of weather is critical to minimizing time spent traveling and maximizing the holiday season with family and friends.

For those in South Bend and Michiana, it is a tale of two countries. 

East of the Mississippi River, almost all areas will remain dry with mild temperatures and higher pressure building through the next few days.

West of the Mississippi, a segment of low-pressure systems continue to push east towards our area.

The leading edge of these lows resulted in rain early Friday morning and persistently damp, cloudy conditions going into the weekend for our area. 

Snow cover has gone down yet again across the U.S as warmer air infiltrates from the American south and southwest.

While current flight times and road conditions are both relatively unaffected as of Friday morning, make sure to follow up on traffic and flight alerts before travelling for the holiday weekend.