"Potentially historic" October snowstorm expected to strike north-central U.S.

A massive snowstorm is forecast to pummel the Northern Plains over the weekend, with 6-12 inches of snow projected to fall over the region, along with record-low temperatures, NBC News reports.

What they're saying: Isolated totals for Bismarck, and Fargo, North Dakota are expected to reach 18 inches, while "[r]ecord low temperatures" are possible across the western and central parts of the U.S. through Friday, NBC notes. Freezing rain, which began to strike New York and New Jersey on Wednesday, is anticipated to last through Friday, according to NBC New York.

The impact: Snow was already falling in parts of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado as of Thursday.

• More than 20 inches was reported in Pony, Montana.
• Meanwhile, NBC notes Denver saw 96 traffic accidents reported over a 3-hour stretch, and the capital city experienced a 54-degree temperature drop — a record-high for the day on Wednesday — immediately followed by a record-low as of midnight Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
• Great Falls, Montana dropped to 0 degrees as of Thursday morning, its lowest October temperature on record.

Go deeper: The coming $2.1 trillion extreme weather bonanza