A storm and the first punch of winterlike chill will combine to cause Thanksgiving travel headaches across the eastern half of the United States as Mother Nature serves up a smorgasbord of sloppy weather.

While the Great Plains region sees "near blizzard" conditions Wednesday, parts of the Northeast were preparing for a winter storm.

Millions of people in the eastern half of the U.S. from the Northeast to the Southeast will see some sort of Thanksgiving Day travel troubles as a high-impact winter storm brings heavy snow, rain and severe weather to the region.

Some big post-thanksgiving changes are coming, catapulting us into winter like weather by the weekend. Thanksgiving Day will be a washout with much needed rain to help alleviate the drought conditions.