An Arctic blast caused havoc for Thanksgiving travel - and it’s back this week

Days of deadly lake-effect snow and wintry conditions brought impassable travel conditions and resulted in the deaths of several people

Following days of heavy lake-effect snow that left communities buried and killed several motorists, forecasters warned Tuesday that another round was expected for residents of the northern U.S. this week.

As Arctic air continues to send temperatures plummeting in the eastern half of the country, a storm moving north of the Great Lakes is expected to bring widespread snow and strong winds. The National Weather Service said that it would lead to more lake-effect snowfall in the Midwest and the Northeast.

Winter storm warnings and advisories were posted through Tuesday in Michigan, and lake-effect snow warnings were in effect through Tuesday night in parts of Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.

More than 200 million people could be impacted by the lastest Arctic blast

The agency said heavy snow is anticipated again for parts of Michigan between Tuesday and Wednesday, with lake-effect snow downwind from Lakes Erie and Ontario. Impacts will be felt in the Mitten State through Thursday.

Boys walk down a snow-covered side street in Erie, Pennsylvia, on Monday. More snow is forecast this week across the U.S. ((AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar))

In northern New England, moderate to heavy snow is also projected on Wednesday, and light to moderate snow is set to hit parts of the central Appalachian mountains.

Light snow will develop over the northern Plains and upper Mississippi Valley from Tuesday to Thursday, as well.

AccuWeather noted that while storms that track so far to the north typically bring limited precipitation impacts to the U.S., the upcoming storm will strengthen and grow in size.

“The steadiest snow will track near the Canada border from northern Minnesota, northern Michigan and the northern parts of New York and New England,” it said. “There will be a locally heavy lake-effect event that develops on the southwest-facing shorelines of the Great Lakes initially, including Buffalo and Watertown, New York, from Tuesday night to Wednesday.”

Shoppers walk through blowing and drifting snow on Monday in St. Joseph, Michigan. Michigan saw several feet of lake-effect snow over the course of the last few days ((Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP))

Forecasters said travelers should expect more dangerous conditions on highways, with snow squalls and a flash freeze.

The inclement weather first developed over one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, with temperatures rapidly plunging on Thanksgiving.

It resulted in a crash of more than a dozen cars and three semi-trucks that critically injured a driver in southwest Michigan. Three people died Monday in a crash in Iowa after a driver crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic to pass a snowplow. The identities of the drivers were not immediately known.

New York State Police said Monday that they had assisted dozens of disabled motorists. Troopers helped rescue a 64-year-old woman who was traveling to Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic for a heart transplant and became stranded.

Serena Schodt brushes snow off her car in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Monday. Winter storm warnings and advisories were posted through Tuesday in Michigan, and lake-effect snow warnings were in effect through Tuesday night in parts of Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania ((AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar))

The snow also caused a barn to collapse, killing five cows and trapping 100 others in Arkwright, New York.

Residents in affected areas have worked tirelessly to clear the snow. By Monday, more than five feet had fallen to the east of Lake Ontario in the course of the last four days.

“It was so much, so quick, that we got buried,” Rebecca Chamberlin, who lives in Cassadaga, New York, told The Associated Press. “If it had been, you know, over a period of a week or more, it wouldn’t have been so bad.”

With reporting from The Associated Press