Snow blanketed the Denver area Wednesday and residents had a slippery commute, transportation workers said. Highway crews from the Colorado Department of Transportation started a \"full snow shift\" at 5 a.m., sending out 80 snowplows, The Denver Post reported. The winter storm that moved into the city was headed eastward, weather forecasters said. The National Weather Service said the Midwest will pay for its recent unseasonably warm weather with snow and rain beginning as early as Thursday. The Chicago area had another day of unusually mild weather but the NWS issued a winter storm watch for Thursday morning continuing into Friday, the Chicago Tribune reported. A winter storm watch was in effect for the eastern half of Wisconsin and Michigan as well. In Battle Creek, Mich., residents were told to expect a 30 percent chance of rain Wednesday night turning to snow on Thursday, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported. The arrival of winter storms follows record-high temperatures for early January in the Midwest. Minneapolis smashed a record Tuesday, hitting a high of 52 degrees that was nearly 30 degrees above average for this time of year, the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press reported. The previous high for Jan. 10 was 49 degrees set in 1990.