Half the Country Is Covered in Snow Right Now
Snow gets a head start on this year's winter in the United States.
ByABC News
November 18, 2014, 10:37 AM
— -- The official start of winter is still more than a month away, but about half the United States is already covered in snow.
![PHOTO:: Pedestrians make their way through downtown Cincinnati, Nov. 17, 2014, as the season's first snowfall resulted in thousands of power outages in the Cincinnati area.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/AP_snow5_ml_141118_4x3_992.jpg)
Heavy snow is expected around the Great Lakes, approaching 2 feet in some areas; light snow showers will linger across the Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
![PHOTO: Caelan Slate, of Nortonville, Ky., calls to say he is going to be a little late to work after losing control and landing his truck in a ditch of off the Pennyrile Parkway in Henderson County, Nov. 17, 2014.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/AP_snow2_ml_141118.jpg)
Arctic air in the Gulf Coast and the Northeast will produce temperatures as much as 20 degrees below average.
![PHOTO: Drivers cautiously make their way along I-196 at the end of the work day in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., Nov. 17, 2014.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/AP_snow4_ml_141118.jpg)
But at least Thursday’s temperatures “won't be quite as bitter," the National Weather Service said this morning.