Vicious storms bring flooding threat with an Arctic chill chaser to battered US

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A vicious storm that smacked the central and eastern US Friday will continue Saturday with heavy rain, snow and dangerous coastal flooding in New England; blizzard conditions from blowing snow in the Midwest; and snow off the Great Lakes, including the Buffalo area. Meanwhile, a brutal blast of Arctic air is spreading south and east through the central US on the heels of this storm. Here’s the latest.

Destructive and potentially historic storm surge to hit Maine: Water levels on Maine’s coast are forecast to hit historic highs on Saturday, inundating coastal communities already swamped by record-breaking surges on Wednesday.

“A dangerous situation for life and property is expected along the coast of Maine and New Hampshire today,” the National Weather Service office in Gray, Maine, said. “Expect to see water in areas that have never been inundated before,” the office said Friday.

The storm’s strong winds will blow water from the Atlantic Ocean toward the shore on top of high tide. Heavy rain inland only exacerbates the flooding. The water and waves could cause major beach erosion and splash over, the weather service said.

In Portland, the water is projected to top 14 feet by noon Saturday, slightly higher than the 13.84 feet hit on Wednesday. That level would top the previous record set in 1978, the National Weather Service said.

The water level reached 15.49 feet in Bar Harbor Wednesday morning and is forecast to top 16 feet by noon Saturday. The previous record in Bar Harbor was 15.04 feet in January 2018.

Water levels should begin to drop after high tide peaks around noon.

Coastal flooding could also be a threat in the Northeast: Coastal flood warnings stretch across parts of the Northeast coastline. While New York City is set to be under a coastal flood advisory until Saturday mid-afternoon, parts of Suffolk and Nassau counties could get hit with more severe coastal flooding — up to 3 feet above ground level in some places.

“This will result in extensive road closures and flooding of low lying property including parking lots, parks, lawns and first floors and basements of homes/businesses near the waterfront,” the National Weather Service office in New York said.

“Vehicles parked in vulnerable areas near the waterfront will likely become flooded and/or submerged. Flooding will likely also extend inland from typical flood prone areas along the tidal rivers and bays, causing flooding in some areas that typically don’t see flooding.”

Philadelphia is under a coastal flood warning for much of Saturday, and Boston is set to be under a coastal flood warning late Saturday morning into the afternoon.

Millions still under winter weather alerts Saturday: The alerts stretch from California to Maine because of multiple storm systems and the cold.

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Snow in Buffalo: In Erie County, New York, which includes Buffalo, officials have declared a state of emergency starting Saturday due to the incoming storm which will kick up lake effect snow, county executive Mark Poloncarz announced.

One to 3 feet of snow and strong winds could hit the Buffalo area Saturday through Monday morning, the National Weather Service in Buffalo said.

“Winds gusting as high as 65 mph early in the event will diminish somewhat late Saturday night. Blizzard conditions will be possible at times, especially Saturday night and Sunday,” the weather service in Buffalo said.

‘Life-threatening’ blizzard conditions: The vast majority of Iowa is under a blizzard warning into early Saturday evening as 6 to 10 inches of previous snowfall gets whipped by wind gusts of more than 40 mph. Back-to-back storms hammering the Midwest have resulted in the snowiest week for Des Moines since 1942.

The Iowa State Patrol responded to 355 motorist assist calls and 34 crashes by Friday afternoon as wintry conditions pounded the state, the agency said in a social media post.

The state’s transportation department and Des Moines police urged travelers to stay off roads amid “dangerous whiteout conditions, drifting snow and slick roads.”

In addition to dangerous travel conditions, blowing snow was “expected to significantly reduce visibility to near-whiteout conditions” into early Saturday, the National Weather Service in Des Moines warned. “The cold wind chills as low as 10 to 20 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes and could be potentially life-threatening if stranded outside.”

More than 420,000 homes and businesses in the dark: Widespread power outages stretched from the Great Lakes to the South early Saturday after intense winds, severe thunderstorms and heavy snow walloped several states. As of 8 a.m. ET, Michigan had the most utility customers without power – more than 170,000 – followed by more than 90,000 customers cut off in Wisconsin.

Travel caution: The Weather Prediction Center warned Saturday morning that the back side of the winter storm would “maintain blizzard conditions and dangerous to impossible travel across parts of the Corn Belt through the Great Lakes” during the day. It said travel would also be made hazardous by heavy blowing snow and icing across the Great Basin and Pacific Northwest.

“Low temperatures approaching 40-50 below zero are not out of the question this morning over parts of Montana in the heart of the cold air, and numerous sub-zero low temperature records could fall today and tomorrow over the Northern and Central Plains,” the prediction center said.

“Including wind chill, temperatures will fall below minus 30 over a large area running from the northern Rockies to northern Kansas, with minus 50 possible across the Dakotas.”

Hundreds of record lows could be shattered: More than 240 daily cold temperature records could be tied or broken across the US through Tuesday.

Wind chills across parts of Montana could reach as low as -70 degrees this weekend. By Tuesday, the high temperature in Memphis, Tennessee, might reach only 17 degrees – which would set a new record.

Over the next week, more than 55 million people will endure temperatures below zero.

Bitter cold stretching to South by Sunday: In Louisiana, where at least 30,000 people are under a winter storm watch for a new storm, Gov. Jeff Landry announced a state of emergency in effect from Sunday through Wednesday.

Cold conditions, including light snow and freezing rain in northern Louisiana, will reach the state by Sunday and early next week, with temperatures expected to drop 20 to 30 degrees below normal.

A winter storm watch is also in effect for nearly all of Arkansas, where Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency Friday ahead of the bitter cold set to impact the state by Sunday. Temperatures will struggle to make it past the teens and low 20s for afternoon highs. For most of Arkansas, wind chills will be below zero, and as cold as -20 in northern parts of the state.

West not spared: The Weather Prediction Center warned Saturday that there was a threat of scattered flash flooding across portions of northern coastal California and Oregon.

“Periods of excessive rainfall rates will support rainfall totals of 3-5 inches through today,” it said. That area has a slight risk, or level 2 of 5, of excessive rainfall that could cause flash flooding Saturday, the center said.

Flights are grounded: More than 2,000 flights to, from or within the US were canceled Friday, the highest number since June 2023, according to FlightAware.com. The bulk of the cancellations came from Chicago, with 40% of departing flights at O’Hare and 60% at Midway canceled.

CNN’s Eric Zerkel, Taylor Ward, Mary Gilbert, Holly Yan, Robert Shackelford, Dave Alsup, Joe Sutton and Sara Smart contributed to this report.