The national weather forecast map for Wednesday Nov. 26, 2025.

An intense cyclone crossing the northern U.S. is expected to dump heavy snow across the upper Plains and Great Lakes regions over the coming days, likely causing traffic and flight delays as millions of Americans travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Winter storm warnings and snow advisories were active on Nov. 26 from Minnesota and Michigan to Pennsylvania and New York state, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters warned of blizzard conditions along the southern shore of Lake Superior, as parts of northern Michigan and Wisconsin experience snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. Forecasters also warned of high winds that could reach up to 40 mph in major cities, including Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit.

"Visibilities may drop below 1/4 mile due to falling and blowing snow," warned the weather service in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "Whiteout conditions are expected and will make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening. Visibility and road conditions may change rapidly over short distances in lake effect snow."

The dangerous weather conditions come as a record-setting 82 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home for Thanksgiving, according to AAA.

Freezing temps possible across eastern U.S.

New England will see steady rain let up while a chance of thunderstorms brews in the Southeast, according to the National Weather Service. Wet snow is likely to linger in Maine until Thanksgiving morning.

Though much of the eastern U.S. is experiencing milder than normal temperatures for this time of year, polar air is expected to settle across the region and the center of the country, plunging temperatures to the freezing mark all the way to the Florida Panhandle by Nov. 28.

Atmospheric river brings snowy holiday weekend to the west

The Pacific Northwest will be hit with mountain snow and low-elevation rain "as an atmospheric river persists through Wednesday and into Thanksgiving Day," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. The heaviest rain will fall in southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon, which could prompt airline and highway delays in Seattle and Portland, AccuWeather reported.

The chances of snow across Montana will also increase Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service. "Allow extra travel time for the morning commute due to slick roads," the weather service in Missoula, Montana advised.

Weekend storm will lead to more travel woes

A new storm will wreak travel havoc over the weekend, dumping snow and rain across a huge portion of the central and the eastern U.S. from Friday, Nov. 28, into Saturday, Nov. 29, and Sunday, Nov. 30.

The storm will first dump snow across the northern Rockies and northern Plains on Friday, Nov. 27, forecasters said. Friday night, that snow will spread into parts of the upper Midwest into Iowa, southern Wisconsin and western Illinois, Weather.com said. Expect slippery, snow-covered roads in these areas.

Travel will worsen over the weekend. "If you're traveling either Saturday (Nov. 29) or Sunday (Nov. 30), be weather aware. Delays and slower traffic are expected Saturday in the central U.S. and on Sunday in the East," said Weather.com meteorologists in an online forecast.

AccuWeather said that motorists and airline passengers in a large portion of the Plains and Midwest will encounter substantial travel delays Saturday, Nov. 29. "Planes in the snow zone will need to be deiced," said Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

Farther south, rain and thunderstorms could also affect airports in Texas.

Major airports that could be impacted by snow or rain on Nov. 29 include Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and St. Louis, according to Weather.com.

The storm will continue during Saturday night over a large part of the Upper Midwest, AccuWeather said. On Sunday, Nov. 30, the area of snow and wintry mix will expand into the interior Northeast.

According to Weather.com, most precipitation in the East on Sunday, Nov 30, particularly along the Interstate-95 urban corridor, will be in the form of rain. Regardless, this could lead to significant flight delays in the major East Coast hubs.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heavy snow forecast as Americans gear up for Thanksgiving travel

Reporting by Christopher Cann, N'dea Yancey-Bragg and Doyle Rice, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect