Arctic Blast to Hit 6 States on Thanksgiving With -20 Wind Chill

A stock image of a thermometer in the snow. Wind chill will plunge temperatures far below zero in multiple states this weekend. MarianVejcik/Getty

Temperatures will plunge across the northern Plains beginning on Thanksgiving as the first arctic blast of the season arrives.

The frigid temperatures will also remain through the weekend, giving holiday travelers something to contend with as they journey home. Nearly 80 million Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving this year, the AAA reported.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Prediction Center on Tuesday warned that temperatures could plunge as much as 40 degrees below zero when factoring in wind chill this weekend.

"The first significant Arctic outbreak of the season will arrive in the northern Plains on Thanksgiving. The cold will advance farther south and east through much of the Plains and Midwest on Friday and persist into this weekend," a key message from the NWS Weather Prediction Center said. "Temperatures are likely to be the coldest since mid-late February in the northern Plains and Midwest, providing an abrupt change from the record, or near-record, warm autumn so far."

According to a map included with a post on X, formerly Twitter, wind chill as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit is expected across much of North Dakota, northeast South Dakota and western Minnesota. Northeast Montana, parts of western Wyoming and parts of central Colorado also could see wind chills plummet the feels-like temperature to 20 degrees below zero.

In some places, the wind chill could dip as low as minus 40 degrees.

NWS meteorologist Todd Hamilton told Newsweek that average low temperatures for this time of year in Bismarck, North Dakota, are around 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Without wind chill factored in, low temperatures in the state capital this weekend will be minus 10 degrees.

"We will be quite a bit colder than average," he said.

Widespread effects of wind chill temperatures dipping below zero will be felt across Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.

"This will pose an increased risk of hypothermia, and frostbite on exposed skin," the NWS Weather Prediction Center said. "Have a winter survival kit if you must travel."

The coldest air could arrive as people are traveling home after the holiday, though Hamilton said no winter storms are expected this weekend, at least in the Bismarck region.

Next week, temperatures in the northern Plains will trend above average, according to the NWS center.

Elsewhere in the nation, snowfall could arrive on Wednesday night into Thursday in Illinois and northeast all the way to Maine, possibly disrupting travel-day plans. Intense lake-effect snow then threatens to temporarily close major roads in part of New York state beginning on Friday.

The NWS center predicts "travel disruptions are likely," with the largest risk posed for Interstate 90 from Cleveland, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, and Interstate 81 north of Syracuse, New York.

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