Photos: Thanksgiving snow blankets western US as record chill grips Northeast

brian.lada
Updated

It felt like winter across parts of the western and northeastern United States on Thanksgiving Day as heavy snow and biting winds impacted the regions.

"Thanksgiving Day 2018 [brought] the coldest conditions of autumn so far to the Northeast; it [was] flat out blustery and frigid," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

"Temperatures started the day in the single digits F in the northern tier and the middle 30s in southern Virginia," Sosnowski said.

"Despite bright sunshine in many places, the temperature rose no more than 10 degrees in most locations during the day."

The famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was the coldest on record with temperatures in the lower 20s throughout much of the morning in New York City. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures hovered in the single digits due to a biting wind blowing across the region.

Providence, Rhode Island; Buffalo, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; and Bangor, Maine, are just a sample of cities that experienced their coldest Thanksgiving on record with temperatures as much as 30 degrees below normal.

Frigid air paired with hurricane-force winds caused the AccuWeather RealFeel® temperature to plummet to minus 83 F on the top of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, on Thursday morning.

For comparison, the average temperature on the surface of Mars is minus 81 F, according to NASA.

The mercury dipped down to record levels at the mountain's summit with weather observers reporting the lowest temperature ever recorded on the mountain during the month of November.

Thanksgiving snow

AP Photo/Garret Fischer

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(Photo: @GrowingPages)

(Photo: Sierra at Tahoe)

(Photo: @GreatWinter2017)

(Photo: Connie Gallippi)

(Photo: Mammoth Mountain)

(Photo: @GreatWinter2017)

(Photo: Conner Penfold)

While the northeastern US shivered, mountains across the western US, including California's Sierra Nevada, saw the first big snow of the season.

Ski resorts across the region welcomed the snow, including Mammoth Mountain in California.

The wintry weather slowed travel across the region as some of the mountain passes became impassable due to heavy snow.

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