Winter storm to bring first widespread cold snap ahead of Thanksgiving week travel

A late November storm is set to bring a variety of impacts, including severe weather, accumulating snow, high winds and the first real blast of wintry-like temperatures this season, which could threaten travel at the start of Thanksgiving week.

The storm is forecast to develop out of the Rockies early next week and sweep north into the Northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing some soaking rains and the potential for the first snow of the season on the storm’s western flanks.

Colder air behind the storm will flood into the Southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley, where temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing. Some frost is even possible along the Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile, the storm will intensify as it spins over the Great Lakes from Wednesday into Thursday, bringing a widespread high wind threat across the Great Lakes and Eastern U.S.

As the storm center drifts into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast toward the end of the week, trailing strong winds are expected to blow across Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and bring the potential for heavy snows across western Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, as well as western New York.

Snowfall is possible across parts of the inland Ohio Valley, northern mid-Atlantic and interior Northeast by the end of the week into the weekend, though there is still substantial uncertainty in the amount of cold air available for snowfall.

Whether rain or snow, the inclement weather at the start of the weekend across the Northeast does have the potential to snarl air and road traffic just as the Thanksgiving travel week gets underway.

Travel aside, temperatures are expected to tumble across much of the Northern Plains and northeastern quadrant of the U.S. by the weekend, giving a wintry feel to the start of the holiday week.