New Delhi, Nov. 26 -- Millions of residents across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes will experience a white Thanksgiving this year.

A winter storm moved from the Dakotas and Minnesota on Tuesday toward Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday. Forecasters expect it to spread into parts of Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York by Thanksgiving Day, leaving a fresh layer of snow "like ice cream, atop apple pie."

By late Tuesday, some of the season's earliest winter storm warnings covered areas of North Dakota, Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and Michigan, where moderate to heavy, wind-driven snow is forecast through Wednesday.

In northeastern South Dakota, far northern Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, officials upgraded several w...