Black Friday Weekend Outlook from Planalytics

Cold Front to Meet Hot Deals over the
Black Friday Weekend
Mother Nature Cooks up a Batch of Rain and Snow Throughout the Week

It’s almost Turkey Time! Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend represent the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season. While fall thus far has trended warmer than last year and normal across many markets, frequent cold shots have served as a reminder that winter is right around the corner. According to a recent survey published by the National Retail Federation, a record 183.4 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year.

Leading up to Thanksgiving (Nov. 28), the West will experience colder-than-usual temperatures, boosting demand for outerwear, winter accessories, and hot beverages. Meanwhile, the East will see a short stretch of warmer temperatures. Early-week storms will bring rain to much of the central and eastern U.S., with snow possible in the North Central regions.

Over the Black Friday Weekend (November 29 – December 1), very cold temperatures will continue to spread eastward, with areas from the Northwest to the East Coast expected to drop below normal and LY. Seasonable to warm temperatures will continue across pockets of the Southern Tier. A large winter storm is expected to sweep across the country during the weekend with rain and snow likely for a large portion of the central and eastern U.S. Some snow could be traffic limiting over parts of the North Central and the Northeast regions.

For reference, Thanksgiving last year was the coldest since 2021, driest since 2013, and snowiest since 2019. Black Friday was the coldest since 2013, the driest since 2017,and snowiest since 2019.