Memorial Day weekend traffic in D.C. is predicted to be the absolute worst on Thursday afternoon

There’s going to be a mass exodus from D.C. this weekend for the holiday, according to AAA. The Washington Post reports that 1,053,400 people who live in the Washington region told AAA in a survey that they plan on heading out of town. That’s a recent record of people who will be on the roads and headed to the airports.

“Memorial Day holiday travel volume in the Washington metro area will be 41 percent higher than it was in the region during 2009, which represented the recession driven low,” AAA spokesperson John B. Townsend II of AAA Mid-Atlantic told the Post.

If you’re among that record high number and don’t have your travel plans set yet, consider leaving any time but tomorrow afternoon. Townsend says 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 24 is predicted to be “the worst time” to travel in the D.C. area.

• More than a million say they plan to flee the Washington region for Memorial Day weekend [WaPo]