A powerful winter storm is set to blast portions of the U.S. with accumulating snow, cold temperatures, strong winds and rain just as millions of people across the country prepare to travel early for Thanksgiving.

With millions of people preparing to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, two strong storm systems are forecast to bring snow, wind and rain across a large swath of the United States this week.

Multiple weather fronts will push rain and snow into the Midwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast ahead of Thanksgiving week and some of the year's busiest travel days.

While the Thanksgiving Day forecast remains murky and federal forecasters often avoid predictions beyond a week out, the US Climate Prediction Center’s six-to-10-day outlook shows above-average precipitation in much of the western and northwestern US, and below normal precipitation in the Southwest and eastern US.

A powerful winter storm is set to blast portions of the U.S. with heavy snow, cold temperatures, strong winds and rain just as millions of people across the country prepare to travel for Thanksgiving.