Heavy snow from a «powerful storm system» is expected to hit the Northeast on Saturday, while flash flooding could affect coastal areas of northern California and southern Oregon, forecasters warned.
Rain and strong winds will likely affect much of the Northeast, the National Weather Service said in a bulletin, adding that «heavy snowfall will continue into the interior Northeast and northern New England.»
An additional 3 to 6 inches of snow was possible, he said, adding that 8 to 12 inches were forecast for southern Maine and New Hampshire through Saturday.
Heavy snow will also hit the West Coast as a new storm system approaches, bringing the possibility of rain that could cause flash flooding along the northern California and southern Oregon coastal areas, the officials warned. meteorologists on Saturday.
As the system moves south, «several additional feet of snow will be possible» on the higher ground of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, the National Weather Service said in a bulletin.
As a result, the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service warned in a tweet that «substantial disruptions to daily life» were expected this weekend.
Motorists were also warned not to travel in «impossible» conditions, and «extensive and widespread closures and infrastructure disruption» were also a possibility, in a separate bulletin.
By early Saturday morning, 28,000 California homes and businesses were without power early Saturday, according to the outage tracking website. poweroutage.es.
The warnings came after California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in 13 counties Thursday and activated state support and emergency response efforts to coordinate mutual aid. He also mobilized the California National Guard to support disaster relief.
In the South, 10 people have died in five states after a series of storms with damaging winds ripped through the region Thursday and Friday, authorities said.
Four people died in Kentucky on Friday, one in Tennessee, three in Alabama and one person was found dead in Arkansas, authorities said. One person in Mississippi died Thursday due to severe weather.
More than half a million homes and businesses in Tennessee and Kentucky lost power early Saturday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm, and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg did the same Friday night due to severe storms, high winds, widespread damage and the danger to life and property.
“I encourage everyone in our community to exercise extreme caution tonight and in the days to come: Do not drive through standing water, go near downed power lines, or do anything that could put someone’s life at risk,” Greenberg said. . in a Facebook post.