The coldest air mass of the season is expected to move from Canada into the United States in the days after Thanksgiving and early December, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
Earlier, US forecasters warned of severe winter weather that could cause travel difficulties ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The National Weather Service in Sacramento, California, issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada region from November 23 to 25, with heavy snow forecast at higher elevations and wind gusts of up to 55 mph. Total snowfall is forecast to be around 4 feet, with the heaviest accumulations expected on November 24 and 25.
Forecasters say the Midwest and Great Lakes will see rain and snow on November 25, while the East Coast will be hit hardest on Thanksgiving (November 28) and Black Friday (November 29).
A low pressure system is forecast to bring rain to the Southeast on the morning of November 28 before moving to the Northeast.
Areas from Boston to New York could see rain and strong winds, with snowfall possible in northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks.
If the low pressure system moves further inland, less snow is likely and more rain is likely in the mountains, US forecasters said.
The announcement of the cold snap comes as California and Washington are recovering from storm damage and power outages, AP reported.
In California, one person was found dead in a car submerged in floodwaters on November 23. Officials are bracing for more heavy rains while battling flooding and mudslides from an earlier storm. Thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest remain without power for days.
Earlier this week, two people died as storms hit the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power, mostly in the Seattle area, as strong winds swept through northern California. A rapidly intensifying “bomb cyclone” struck the U.S. West Coast on November 19, bringing fierce winds that damaged homes and vehicles.
The National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area said Santa Rosa, California, had just recorded three wettest days on record, with about 320mm of rain falling on the evening of November 22. Vineyards in nearby Windsor, California, were also flooded on November 23.
About 80,000 people in the Seattle area remain without power because of the strongest atmospheric river of the season, a long line of moisture that forms over the ocean and flows across land.
Another storm is dropping rain on New York and New Jersey and heavy snow in northeastern Pennsylvania, with the rain expected to help ease drought conditions after a particularly dry fall.
Heavy snowfall in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains, and rainfall in West Virginia has helped ease the state’s worst drought in at least two decades and prompted ski resorts to prepare to open in the coming weeks.
