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 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 this week and sweep north into the Northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will bring some soaking rain, strong wind gusts to 50-60 mph, 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.

"As that cold front moves through, that cooler air gets pulled in behind that area of low pressure," says FOX Weather Meteorologist Michael Estime. "Wednesday and Thursday – look at all of that blue (cold air on the weather map). Looks like Elsa was dancing across the map here from (Cincinnati) down toward Montgomery."

Significant lake-effect snow for Great Lakes possible later in the week 

Meanwhile, the storm will intensify as it spins over the Great Lakes from Wednesday into Thursday, bringing a widespread high wind threat across the central and northern Plains, Great Lakes and the Ohio and Tennessee valleys. Wind gusts may top 50 mph, especially along and near the shores of the Great Lakes. These winds could knock down tree branches and take out power.

These same winds will help usher in a relative rarity this fall: a blast of cold air late next week and into next weekend.

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.

First significant rain in weeks for Northeast

The Northeast, which is mired in a record dry stretch and widespread drought, will take any storms that bring precipitation, and this storm might just fit the bill.

The storm and its cold front will likely bring rain or perhaps even a thunderstorm to the eastern states. This rain is looking heavier than the light rain the region saw last weekend with rainfall totals over an inch not out of the question. 

While this alone will do little to end the drought conditions, it will significantly reduce the wildfire threat by effectively wetting plants and soils.

But the timing could have been better. Whether rain or inland snow, the inclement weather has the potential to snarl air and road traffic just as 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 the start of the holiday week a wintry feel.