Soggy, sloppy conditions smother the chilly Northeast as an Arctic blast takes aim for Thanksgiving weekend

By Holly Yan and Gene Norman, CNN

(CNN) — While the Northeast gets hammered by frigid rain or snow this Thanksgiving, much of the US can be thankful for calm, dry weather. But a bitter blast of Arctic air will envelop much of the country by the time travelers head home this weekend.

In New York City, sopping-wet revelers braved temperatures in the 40s to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, where drenched, poncho-clad participants performed under dark, rainy clouds.

Across New England, winter weather alerts are in effect for about 3 million people who could get walloped with 3 to 10 inches of precipitation – with even higher amounts in the Vermont and New Hampshire mountains.

The cold front producing this wet and snowy weather could also spawn a few thunderstorms in the extreme Southeast.

Then a brutal chill will set in for much of the northern and central US.

“The first significant Arctic outbreak of the season arrives in the northern Plains on Thanksgiving,” the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said.

“The cold will advance farther south and east through much of the Plains and Midwest on Friday and stick around through the weekend.”

Forecasters warned wind chills could plummet to dangerous levels over the next several days.

“At the peak of the Arctic Outbreak, minimum wind chills should fall below zero for much of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest,” the Weather Prediction Center said.

Wind chills across much of the Dakotas and Minnesota will plunge below 15 degrees below zero – with some areas suffering wind chills as dangerous as 40 degrees below zero.

“This will pose an increased risk of hypothermia and frostbite on exposed skin,” the weather agency warned.

“Aside from bitterly cold wind chills, this Arctic outbreak will also lead to heavy lake-effect snowfall through Monday.”

The wintry weather system could dump 6 to 18 inches of snow in parts of New York state, including Buffalo and Watertown, and whip the same areas with 35 mph gusts.

“Formidable lake-effect snow bands and snow showers will develop east and southeast of the Great Lakes, resulting in significant accumulations and drifting snow in the hardest hit areas,” the Weather Prediction Center said.

“Travel disruptions are likely, especially on I-90 between Cleveland and Buffalo and I-81 north of Syracuse (New York). Travel could be very difficult to impossible with multiple feet of snow in the hardest hit locations.”

Even Texas and the Southeast aren’t immune from the freeze. Temperatures in parts of West Texas will plunge to the 20s by Friday morning.

And parts of North and South Carolina will endure freezing temperatures Friday evening into Saturday morning.

But for some in the northern parts of the US, a holiday weekend treat could soon be on the horizon – literally.

A recent solar flare could make the Northern Lights visible to the northern tier of the US by Friday evening.

And unlike recent, short-lived cold snaps, the wintry surge arriving this weekend will last through much of the first week of December – ushering in festive holiday weather.

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