Missouri holiday travel off to semi-smooth start

photo Motorists brave the falling snow as they head south on Interstate 81 near Staunton, Va., on Nov. 26, 2014.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A small band of snow along a stretch of eastern Missouri briefly caused headaches for holiday drivers Wednesday, but otherwise it was smooth sailing for motorists on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

At least a half-dozen semitrailers slid off Interstate 70 near Montgomery City while trying to make it up a hill before noon Wednesday, but there were no serious injuries, Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Paul Reinsch said.

By early afternoon temperatures across the state had started climbing into the 40s and traffic on the interstate was getting heavier, Reinsch said. He said the Highway Patrol was increasing the number of troopers on the highways Wednesday afternoon and again on Sunday, a day of return for many.

Airports in St. Louis and Kansas City reported brisk traffic for the Thanksgiving holiday, though a winter storm system moving through the Northeast caused some flights to be cancelled at both airports.

At Kansas City International Airport, spokesman Joe McBride said holiday travelers are asked to "pack their patience" because infrequent travelers tend to make up a big part of ridership.

"We've been seeing a good amount of vehicular traffic and a lot of what appear to be leisure travelers," McBride said. "I saw some wearing short-sleeved shirts who were not prepared to arrive in the cold Kansas City weather."

McBride said a handful of departing flights for cities in the Northeast were canceled, but only one incoming flight had been scrubbed as of 2 p.m.

Ron and Cathy Whitlatch arrived in Kansas City from the Newark, New Jersey, airport, after leaving their home in New York City before dawn. The married couple said the rain had just started when they left.

After they arrived in Kansas City, where they'll reunite with several of their children and celebrate a friend's wedding, they learned that a flight scheduled shortly after theirs had been cancelled.

"We were very fortunate," Cathy Whitlatch said.

Jeff Lea, spokesman for Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, said a dozen flights - six arriving and six departing - had been cancelled by midday Wednesday because of the coming storm in the Northeast.

The airport was expecting about 40,000 travelers to come through on Wednesday, the second-busiest day of the 12-day Thanksgiving travel season, while up to 43,000 were expected to move through Lambert on Sunday, he said.

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