Snow and chilly temperatures have already greeted some Thanksgiving travelers and plenty more could be on its way this holiday weekend, with winter storm warnings Saturday across much of the northern part of the country.
A major winter storm will produce snow and gusty winds throughout the Midwest through the Western Great Lakes, the National Weather Service said. The storm is expected to bring snow and cold, peaking on Saturday and then tapering off sometime on Sunday morning. More than a foot of snow is expected in portions of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Up to 54 million people are under winter weather alerts, CBS News Philadelphia meteorologist Andrew Kozak said, as the system moves across the northern Plains. Arctic air is driving temperatures into the teens and 20s across the central U.S., with wind chills that will likely dip below zero before the weekend ends, Kozak said.
CBS News 
A wintry mix is forecast to spread overnight Saturday to Sunday into Michigan, northern Indiana, and northwest Ohio, then into upstate New York and interior New England.
“Anybody out shopping for Black Friday in these areas from Cleveland to upstate New York and even into New England are going to deal with some issues out on the roadways,” Kozak said.
More than 81.8 million people were predicted to travel 50 miles or more during the Thanksgiving holiday period, AAA said. The Transportation Security Administration said the agency is planning to screen more than 3 million travelers on Sunday. Adam Stahl, the senior official performing the duties of the deputy TSA administrator, said in a statement, “We are projecting that the Sunday after Thanksgiving will be one of the busiest travel days in TSA history.”
AP Photo/Cara Anna 
Chicago — a huge travel hub — could see anywhere from 8 to 12 inches of snow or even more, Kozak said. That could have a domino effect for the major airports. Heavy snow is forecast for Saturday, he said.
Airlines for America, the trade association for the leading U.S. airlines, predicted that carriers will fly a record 31 million passengers from last Friday through this coming Monday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that the TSA is back to staffing levels from before the government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, which led to reductions in flights.
So far, forecast conditions do not meet blizzard warning criteria, meteorologists said — winds of at least 35 mph, visibilities of less than a quarter mile and lasting more than three hours.
National Weather Service 
A storm already brought snow to parts of the northern Plains states and the Great Lakes region. Snowfall totals of at least a foot were expected by the end of the storm, particularly downwind of Lake Superior across the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan and downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario, the weather service said. Areas of central New York state could see a foot of snow. Gusty winds may lead to periods of blowing snow with hazardous post-Thanksgiving travel conditions expected, the weather service said. Below-average and chilly temperatures are expected to hit most of the eastern and central U.S.
Snow squalls brought quick bursts of heavy snow and dangerous, whiteout conditions for driving were possible across the interior Northeast, the weather service said. By Saturday, the snow will taper off for the Rockies and northern Plains, but continue on to the Midwest.
The snowy weather on Thanksgiving brought a number of vehicle crashes in western Michigan.
To the south, storms — some of them heavy — are in the forecast, with some flash flooding possible Saturday in the western Gulf Coast.
