Thanksgiving storm will bring snow and rain. Here’s what to expect

BOSTON – Snow and rain will be part of a messy Thanksgiving storm in Massachusetts and much of New England Thursday.
That’s prompted the WBZ Weather Team to issue a NEXT Weather Alert for the holiday.
As the travel rush begins, Tuesday will be a rainy day in the Northeast. There will be periods of rain showers, mainly light to moderate. Rainfall totals will generally be less than a half inch. Temperatures on Tuesday will be in the upper 40’s and low 50s in the Boston area.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for parts of central and northern New England on Tuesday.
Temperatures will be a bit cooler in this region and there will be a wintry mix of rain, ice, and snow. Snow and ice amounts will be light, but some roads could be slippery from Concord, New Hampshire and areas northward.
Nationally, it will be quite windy in the Upper Midwest behind an area of rain. The Thanksgiving storm coming to Massachusetts will be traveling through the Rockies Tuesday, bringing some rain and snow showers out that way.
On Wednesday, it will be quiet between Tuesday’s “appetizer” and the “main course” on Thanksgiving.
There will be partly sunny skies with highs in the 40s to near 50 in southern New England with a bit of a gusty breeze at times. 
Nationally, the main event will now have moved into the central part of the country. It will be in the midst of getting its act together as it digs southward into northern Texas. Expect some rain showers in the Southern Plains and some accumulating snowfall in parts of Wyoming and Colorado.
One of the strongest storms we have seen here in quite a while will bring a wintry mix to Massachusetts on Thanksgiving. Rainfall totals across the eastern part of the state could easily reach or top an inch. 
It will essentially be miserable all day long. As the storm arrives Thursday, it will start with some light rain and snow showers. Thanksgiving high school football games will be raw and damp, getting wetter each hour.
During the afternoon and evening expect a cold and steady rain across eastern Massachusetts.
This storm will bring the first snow accumulation to parts of southern and central New England.
Taking into account the time of year, ocean temperatures, and storm track, the best chance of accumulating snowfall will be in the higher elevations. This is fairly typical for late November storms.
Areas most at risk of accumulating snow include the Green and White Mountains, the Berkshires and the highest elevations in northern Worcester County and southwest New Hampshire.
Three-to-6 inches of snow is possible along and north of Route 2 outside Route 495 in northern Worcester County into southern New Hampshire in some of the higher elevations. 
Central and northern Worcester in the lower elevations should expect 1-to-3 inches with a slushy coating possible a little closer to Boston. 
There is also potential for a period of gusty winds during the day on Thursday. While the winds are not a big concern with this storm, we could briefly see gusts of 25-to-45 mph along the immediate coastline. Thankfully, tides are astronomically low, so coastal flooding is not a concern.
The weather looks much quieter on Friday and this weekend, but it is going to be rather chilly. The coldest airmass yet this season will pour into New England from Canada. Daily highs will be stuck in the 30s and low 40s with periods of gusty winds making it feel even colder.
Things could still change and some tweaks to the forecast are likely. Stay with WBZ-TV and CBSBoston.com for the very latest.