Storm in eastern U.S. could snarl Thanksgiving travel

It’s going to be an unsettled lead-up to Thanksgiving in much of the eastern United States as a large, moisture-loaded storm system sweeps across the region. The storm could slow air and ground transportation Tuesday and Wednesday, two of the busiest travel days of the year.

After spawning severe thunderstorms across parts of the South on Monday, the storm will produce a large swath of heavy rain from the Tennessee Valley to the Mid-Atlantic from Tuesday into early Wednesday.

The storm could also produce wintry precipitation over parts of the Great Lakes on Tuesday and interior portions of the Northeast on Tuesday into Wednesday. Vermont, New Hampshire and interior Maine will see the greatest chances for accumulating snowfall.

By Thanksgiving Day and into Friday, a new storm system will begin to develop over the northern Rockies, which could bring light amounts of snow from western Montana into Colorado. A third storm system may also attempt to develop over the South on Friday, and it could bring another wave of rain and snow to the East Coast into Saturday. As the storm in the Northeast shifts away, the next Canadian cold front will slink southward over the Rocky Mountains, and an area of low pressure will develop along it.

While most of the country will be dry, a couple of inches of snow may fall across Montana, Wyoming and Idaho on Thanksgiving before spreading into Colorado on Thursday night. Cheyenne and Denver could see snow, but mostly as Thanksgiving is ending.

Temperatures will take a dive in Denver, with highs falling from the 60s on Wednesday to the 20s on Friday.

Denver should be much colder but mainly dry Thanksgiving Day. Snow showers will develop Thursday night and last into Friday.

Other than lingering snow across the central and southern high plains of Colorado and New Mexico, much of the country will see a quieter Friday.