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As Thanksgiving approaches, a large number of people are making plans to travel, but the holiday may be impacted by two powerful storm systems. According to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, the first major winter storm of the season is brewing in the Pacific Northwest, bringing with it high winds of up to 70 mph and heavy rain and snowfall in northern California, Oregon, and Washington.

This “extremely powerful and rapidly strengthening” system is also expected to bring a significant “atmospheric river event” to the same region until Wednesday. The weather service has issued warnings of blizzard conditions in the Washington Cascades due to heavy snow and gusty winds at higher elevations.

Meanwhile, a second storm system which caused severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the central and southern Plains on Monday is headed north and will collide with arctic air, resulting in widespread snow across the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin on Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather service has cautioned that up to a foot of snow is possible in parts of North Dakota and windy conditions may cause visibility issues on roads.

Separately, an upper-level low pressure system is expected to develop over the Great Lakes later in the week, bringing cooler temperatures and cold rain to the Ohio Valley and East Coast. The central Appalachians and parts of the Northeast may also see accumulating snow of up to a foot on Thursday and Friday, especially in higher elevations in West Virginia and Maryland.

While the weather service has not yet released forecasts for beyond seven days, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center’s 6-to-10-day outlook suggests above-average chances of rain in the Pacific Northwest, upper Midwest, and Great Lakes during the early part of next week.

This could affect the nearly 80 million people planning to travel more than 50 miles for Thanksgiving, with Tuesday and Wednesday expected to be the busiest days on the roads, according to AAA.

#ThanksgivingTravel #WinterStorms #HighWinds #HeavyRain #Snowfall #TravelAlert #USWeather #PacificNorthwest

References: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/hpcdiscussions.php?disc=pmdspd

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Senior Editor, Digital Manager, Blogger, has been nominated for awards several times as Publisher and Author over the years. Has been with company for almost three years and is a current native St. Louisan.

The Newsletter 05

Senior Editor, Digital Manager, Blogger, has been nominated for awards several times as Publisher and Author over the years. Has been with company for almost three years and is a current native St. Louisan.

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