The highest snow accumulations are expected east of Lake Ontario, where some isolated areas could get up to 60 inches of lake effect snow early in the week.

An Arctic blast brought snow, frost and dangerously cold winds to the northern Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes, creating difficult travel conditions on one of the busiest travel days of the year, as millions of Americans head home from their Thanksgiving destinations.

As if heavy snow and rain from potent storm systems sweeping across the U.S. wasn’t enough to cause travel delays and dampen the holiday spirit, the coldest air of the season will start to infiltrate the country starting on Thanksgiving and could last into at least the start of December.

It could be a record-breaking Thanksgiving travel weekend but the threat of disruption looms large as an arctic blast sweeps across parts of the U.S.

CBS New York meteorologist John Elliott said "very intense snow" will hit communities along the Great Lakes, Plans and Midwest regions as upwards of 6 feet of snow is forecast.

Some parts of the country will receive heavy lake-effect snow and others will see rain or dry weather with subfreezing temperatures.

An arctic blast of severe cold and snow is creating hazardous conditions across the Great Lakes region over the next two days, according to the US Weather Prediction Center, potentially disrupting the plans of millions traveling the roads and skies.