Wintry Blast Pelts Northeast on Thanksgiving Day

A storm moved through the Northeast on Thanksgiving Day, dumping snow and rain across New York, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire and disrupting travel plans, according to the National Weather Service.

In New York City, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade kicked off the holiday season despite dreary weather and temperatures in the 40s. Weather alerts were in effect for about 3 million people across New England as heavy snow was expected into Friday morning.

"A dynamic mid-latitude cyclone tracks near the New England coast Thursday night before moving into Atlantic Canada on Friday," the NWS said. "A swath of moderate to heavy snowfall is likely to develop across portions of the interior Northeast — winter storm warnings are in effect from eastern New York through central and northern New England where over one foot of fresh snow is possible."

A brutal chill was expected in much of the northern and central U.S.

"The first significant Arctic outbreak of the season arrives in the northern Plains on Thanksgiving," the NWS' 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."

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