The trip home from Thanksgiving for millions of travelers in the central U.S. will be disrupted by a "significant winter storm," National Weather Service forecasters said.
"A large area of accumulating snow will spread from the Rockies and High Plains to much of the Midwest throughout the weekend," said Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist in an online forecast. "Motorists and airline passengers alike should anticipate substantial travel delays."
The National Weather Service said that heavy snowfall accumulating to 6 inches to 12 inches or more "will create dangerous travel for many areas, including Des Moines, Chicago, and Milwaukee."
"The period from Saturday (Nov. 29) to Saturday night is likely to be the worst for travel, considering that the snowstorm will be in progress over such a large area," AccuWeather director of forecasting operations Carl Erickson said.
By Saturday, Nov. 29, accumulating snow is likely to be falling along a 1,200-mile-long swath from west of Denver to east of Detroit, AccuWeather said.
