Millions in the eastern U.S. and Great Lakes region are getting their first real taste of winter weather on Thursday with a storm set to bring rain and up to a foot of snow to higher elevations. Light snow could even reach as far south as North Carolina,

A bomb cyclone has spurred an atmospheric river of heavy snow and rain to soak the Pacific Northwest, whereas a storm system brewing in the Plains states is bringing snow across the Great Lakes region and the East and Northeast later this week.