\n A blast of Arctic cold air is sweeping across the country just as family and friends take to the roads and skies to gather for Thanksgiving.\n <\/p>\n
\n Cold plunge: Chilly temperatures have already arrived in the Midwest and Plains, along with a winter storm that has delivered more than a half-foot of snow and strong winds across parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota and northern Wisconsin since yesterday.\n <\/p>\n
\n Minneapolis-St. Paul saw its first snow of the season overnight, along with wind gusts over 40 mph.\n <\/p>\n
\n Temperatures will run up to 20 degrees below average for much of the central and eastern US by Thursday or Friday. Highs in the 20s and 30s are expected across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes on Thanksgiving, and many Southern cities will wake up to a freeze by Friday morning.\n <\/p>\n
\n Lake-effect snow: The storm will also kick lake-effect snow into high gear across the Great Lakes today through Friday as it pushes cold air over the warmer lake water. Narrow snow bands could make localized travel tricky where they set up.\n <\/p>\n
\n Farther east, lake-effect snow warnings are posted for up to 20 inches of snow and wind gusts to 50 mph from northeast Ohio to northwest Pennsylvania and southwest New York.\n <\/p>\n
\n Blizzard warnings: In northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, snow totals could be as high as 20 to 30 inches.\n <\/p>\n