FAIRMONT – While travel should be possible on Thanksgiving itself, the days before and after have some chances of severe weather.

The prediction for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning by National Weather Service Meteorologist Joel Strus was a couple inches of snow. In addition to this, he said winds would be a major player.

“We could be talking about wind gusts as high as, say, 50 miles per hour overnight as the snow falls,”Strus said.

As long as that forecast held up or was weaker than predicted, travel is possible late Wednesday morning, granted people take precautions.

“It looks like we’ll still have a breezy day ahead with wind sustaining anywhere from 20 to 30 miles per hour, still could have a gust upwards of 40 miles per hour early in the day. If you get any of that snow that’s fallen, it may blow around a little bit onto the roadways. We just want to encourage folks across southern Minnesota, even though we’re not expecting the heaviest snow in your area, we could still have some slick spots out there.”

After the air and drifting snow subsides, Strus said the rest of Wednesday and all of Thursday will see the cold set in, with a high of 29 and lows in the teens Thursday.

“Wind chills are going to make it feel colder than that with wind chills in the teens during the Thanksgiving afternoon, with a breeze out there of maybe 10 to 15 miles per hour,” he said. “We’re going to need folks to layer up as they head to and from those Turkey Day celebrations. It looks quiet on Thanksgiving, with mostly sunny skies.”

While it is still a little way out, Strus warned of another storm system potentially developing for Friday into early Saturday.

“Particularly across southern Minnesota, we want folks to keep an eye on the forecast as there’s another storm system that looks to be moving in,” he said. “That does look like it could produce snow for the Fairmont area, southern Minnesota. Possibly some heavy and accumulating snow there as a result. That’ll be something that we want folks to keep tuned in if they’re heading back from those Thanksgiving holiday plans, or maybe they’re planning to travel somewhere this weekend.”

This all comes after a week that saw temperatures get into the mid-fifties. Strus said these fluctuations come with the territory as fall gives way to winter.

“Every spring, every fall, there’s that stair-stepping effect into the next season,” he said. “Our jet stream has really been holding on to this, what we would consider Pacific influence over recent times. That’s kept things a little more mild out there overall, but we’re turning the tide here. We’re going to a northwesterly wind in the atmosphere, and that’s going to keep the influence of much colder Canadian-type air in place for the foreseeable future.”

As for the windows for travel, Strus said the second half of Wednesday and Thursday overall look like the best window for travel conditions before and during Thanksgiving. For those looking to stay awhile, abbreviated stays may be more in favor, as the travel window could close due to inclement weather later Friday into Saturday morning.

As for resources people can check for any planned or in-the-moment travel decisions, road conditions can be monitored via 511mn.org/, and check the National Weather Service or your preferred weather application for continually updated forecasts.