Cross-country winter storm could wreck post-Thanksgiving travel

By CNN Meteorologist Mary Gilbert

(CNN) — Emerging from their holiday food comas and shuffling toward the nation’s airports and highways, some Americans may discover the biggest holiday indigestion has nothing to do with pie. A potent storm is muscling into the journey home, threatening to upend the post-turkey travel plans.

A storm moving through the Rockies on Friday will morph into a full-blown, cross-country storm with the potential to dump heavy rain and several inches of snow across more than 1,000 miles of the country this weekend.

The storm is also also opening the door for a new, colder rush of frigid Arctic air that will send temperatures plummeting for millions right before the calendar flips to December.

Pre-holiday weather already proved deadly in Minnesota. A 69-year-old man was killed after being crushed by a snow-covered tree Wednesday morning amid strong winds in Alden Township, around 180 miles northeast of Minneapolis, CNN affiliate WCCO reported, citing the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office.

This post-Turkey Day storm could unleash similar dangers.

Tracking the storm

The storm pushed into the Pacific Northwest on Thursday night and was moving through the Rockies Friday. Snow began in parts of the northern Rockies and the northern Plains early in the day and will continue as the storm meshes with winterlike air.

The center of the storm is forecast to move into the Plains by early Saturday morning and strengthen throughout the day as it heads toward the Midwest. It will spread snow, rain and even some icy mix over much of the nation’s midsection.

Rain will fall on the southern side of the storm, but snow is in the forecast on the north side, which is taking aim at Nebraska and Kansas and northward through the Midwest. Some areas caught near the transition between mostly snow and mostly rain will deal with an icy mix for a time. Winds will also increase as the storm strengthens.

Areas east of the Mississippi River will have to deal with the storm on Sunday — snow for the Great Lakes and rain stretching through the South — while the country’s midsection gets blasted by Arctic air on its backside.

The storm will move away from the East Coast early Monday.

The wintry side

Widespread accumulating snow will stretch from the Rockies to Appalachia to close out November, and will be the first storm so far this season to accomplish the feat.

The biggest snow through the weekend will center on the Midwest. Significant parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan will end up with more than 6 inches of snow piling up over the next few days.

If the Chicago area receives 8 or more inches of snow from early Saturday morning into early Sunday morning, it will be the snowiest two-day stretch for the city since January 2021. The city’s heaviest snow is likely on Saturday, which could wreck havoc on air travel out of O’Hare and Midway as well as seriously hinder travel on area roadways.

Snow totals could eclipse the one-foot mark in parts of eastern Iowa — including Cedar Rapids — and far northwest Illinois. Travel could be nearly impossible at times in these areas as heavy snow piles up.

A sloppy mix of some wet or icy snow is possible for parts of Kansas and Nebraska east into central Illinois and portions of Indiana. Tough driving conditions are easy to spot when it’s snowing, but slick or slippery roads are harder to spot and often more dangerous to travel on.

The rainy side

Rain could also disrupt holiday travel south of the snowy areas. Rain and a few thunderstorms could produce localized flash flooding in parts of the South starting Saturday.

Portions of eastern Texas — including Houston — and western Louisiana could experience flooding issues on Saturday.

Rain will shift to the East on Sunday. This rain is less likely to cause flash flooding issues, but could cause slow-going travel for anyone driving in the area.

Winter air is coming

It’s already chilly in parts of the US on Friday, but an even colder blast is on the way this weekend.

The new round of significant temperature drops will begin Saturday in the Rockies and Plains as Arctic air plunges into the US behind the storm. High temperatures in the teens and low 20s are likely as far south as Nebraska.

Temperatures will sink to downright frigid levels overnight into early Sunday morning. Low temperatures will be in the single digits in much of the north-central US and dip below freezing all the way into northern Texas.

Sunday’s high temperatures will be 15 to 20 degrees colder than typical for much of the central US. Some parts of the Midwest could end up with highs stuck well-below freezing, closer to 30 degrees colder than normal.

The cold air will expand east with overnight low temperatures at or below freezing expected in most of the Lower 48. Parts of Montana, the Dakotas and the Upper Midwest could wake up to temperatures several degrees below zero on Monday, December 1.

December marks the start of meteorological winter — December through February — and it will certainly feel like it well into the first week of the season. Monday and Tuesday will remain quite frigid for millions of people before temperatures start to shift back closer to normal midweek.

The upcoming Arctic blast could be preview of more cold to come deeper into December from a disruption of the polar vortex.

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CNN’s Jennifer Feldman contributed to this report.