Millions are heading home from the holiday to face snow and an Artic blast

Travelers heading home from the Thanksgiving holiday this weekend could face severe weather and travel delays.

An arctic blast will bring the “coldest air since last winter” to Eastern portions of the county, the National Weather Service (NWS) said on Friday. The air mass from the Arctic is moving across the U.S. and will stay for the weekend, while the northern Plains will see temperatures in the single digits and teens.

Northeast parts of the country will see 30 to 40-degree temperatures while 20 and 30-degree temperatures will impact the Midwest. Wind chills will dip below zero in upper portions of the Midwest and northern Plains, with Minnesota and North and South Dakota seeing wind chills below -15 degrees.

“This will pose an increased risk of hypothermia and frostbite on exposed skin. While not quite as dangerous, wind chills will also still be bitterly cold across the Midwest and the Northeast Saturday with breezy winds expected,” according to the NWS.

The Arctic blast, along with the lake effect snow blanketing upper portions of the Northeast and Midwest, is leading to dangerous conditions for travel and delays. Lake effect snow happens when cold air, including from Canada, moves across warm waters of the Great Lakes. Once this happens, moisture and heat rise into the atmosphere creating clouds that can produce more than 2 inches of snow an hour. 

Southern states are also expected to feel “subfreezing” temperatures in the morning stretching from the Atlantic coast in the southeast to the Gulf Coast, including possible frost in northern parts of Florida, the NWS says. The subfreezing temperatures can “kill crops and other sensitive vegetation as well as damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” the NWS says.

Weather officials in Buffalo, N.Y., on Friday warned that travel conditions are “poor” within areas where lake effect snow is falling and said to avoid travel in those areas. The lake effect snow is expected to continue through the weekend and some cities, including Watertown, are forecast to receive at least 6 feet of snow.

While parts of the country will see a not-so-wintery wonderland, rain and thunderstorms will fall in southern Texas and Florida. The rest of the country is expected to be mainly dry with normal or above-normal temperatures for this time of year.

Flights into and out of Erie International Airport were canceled Friday and its operating status was listed as “closed” as of 4:56 p.m. ET until 12 p.m. ET Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Authority’s (FAA) National Airspace System. More than 2,300 flights on Friday have been delayed into, within and out of the United States, according to FlightAware.

Travel bans along I-86 from the Pennsylvania state line to I-390 and other roadways went into effect Friday afternoon, with lake-effect snow warnings in effect across parts of New York through Monday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged residents to prepare for the lake-effect snow and her office advised residents of “hazardous to impossible travel conditions” because of reduced visibility and snow-covered roads in west, central and northern parts of the state.

A public service campaign by the U.S Department of Homeland Security also urged travelers in areas with heavy snow to “limit the time outdoors & avoid driving if possible.”

“If you must drive, clear ice & snow from your car, pack an emergency kit, drive slowly, and leave extra space between vehicles,” the agency said in a post.