Severe storms in the US set to disrupt Thanksgiving for millions

Two winter storms blasted parts of the United States on Wednesday, disrupting travel plans for millions of Americans who typically jam the country’s highways and airports to visit family and friends over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

One of the hardest-hit areas was Minnesota’s Twin Cities region, which was blanketed in white by the same system that struck the Denver area a day earlier.

The storm, which is packing high winds, will move eastward on Wednesday across upper Michigan and upstate New York toward central Maine, which could get 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) of snow, the Weather Service forecast.

On the West Coast, a “bomb cyclone” – a winter storm that forms when the barometric pressure drops 24 millibars in 24 hours – slammed Oregon and Northern California, knocking down trees, bringing coastal flooding and stranding drivers on Interstate 5 with mountain snows of up to 4 feet (120 cm).

Heavy rain threatened flash floods from San Diego to Los Angeles, the weather service said.

Los Angeles International Airport told domestic passengers to arrive three hours early to beat highways clogged by traffic on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Via CNN