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A nor'easter could cause a travel nightmare up and down the East Coast next week.

(AccuWeather)

The timing couldn’t be worse.

A nor’easter is expected to bear down on the East Coast Wednesday with heavy rain, high winds and possibly snow just as millions of people take to the road, rail and air ahead of Thanksgiving.

"If the storm hugs the coast and develops to its full potential, it could be a flight nightmare, not only for travelers in the East, but also throughout the nation,” said AccuWeather COO Evan Myers.

Though the details remain murky, forecast models have come into agreement that New Jersey will be affected by a coastal storm sometime between Tuesday night and Thanksgiving morning as an impulse of energy rides up the coast from the Gulf of Mexico.

Most models point to Wednesday as the day the state bears the brunt of it, just as an estimated 43.4 million begin to travel for the holidays, according to travel group AAA — a recipe for potentially serious delays.

“If it weren’t for the fact that this is one of the busiest travel days of the year, this storm wouldn’t be that big of a deal,” said Steven DiMartino, founder of Freehold-based weather firm NY NJ PA Weather. “But this is going to be a nasty nor’easter, no doubt. It’s going to wreak havoc up and down the east coast.”

How bad conditions will get remains to be seen.

Cold air is expected to seep into the region this weekend, and by Sunday temperatures could struggle to get out of the lower 30s in many places. The cold conditions are expected to moderate somewhat during the week, but not by much, leaving the door open for at least some frozen precipitation to fall during the course of the storm.

The timing and track of the storm will play critical roles in the forecast over the next several days.

"I'm pretty confident at this point that we’ll be dealing with a storm,” said Mike Mihalik, a meteorologist at Hackettstown-based meteorology firm WeatherWorks. “I think this storm is going to have a very narrow rain/snow line. Depending on the track and timing of the storm, there’s still the potential for snow. We’re just not certain of those details yet.”

The storm is expected to be quick-moving, which should limit the duration of the worst conditions. And If it tracks further east than currently expected, it may end up being little more than a nuisance for New Jersey travelers.

However, the National Weather Service is urging travelers to plan for delays, as currently, it appears the Garden State won’t be so lucky.

“The timing of this storm couldn’t be worse given the Thanksgiving holiday. Travel conditions will deteriorate late Tuesday night as strong onshore winds and rain move into the region,” wrote Joe Miketta, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, in a briefing issued on the storm today. “These condition will persist through Wednesday before gradually improving Thanksgiving morning. Delays can be expected regardless of the travel mode (air, road, rail).”