Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Arkansas were under flood warnings, and residents were warned by the National Weather Service to stay off roads. Parts of western Kentucky could face up to 8 inches of rain.
The entire length of the Kentucky-Tennessee border was under a flash flood warning on Saturday.
In Guthrie, Kentucky, just east of Clarksville on the Tennessee line, multiple rescues took place from homes and vehicles surrounded by swiftly rising water, as seen in video footage from Horizon Drone Solutions .
Gov. Andy Beshear preemptively declared a state of emergency in Kentucky, where flash flooding is expected on Saturday and into Sunday. Flash flood waters were beginning to appear on some roads Saturday in Bowling Green.
The weather service said flash flooding is possible in the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio River valleys. In Tennessee on Saturday, flash flood warnings were alerted for much of the middle of the state until Saturday evening.
The National Weather Service in Paducah called the expected rain a “major, potentially historic, flash flood event.”
Heavy snow, meanwhile, was expected to blanket much of New England and then transition to sleet, making travel nearly impossible, the weather service said.
In northern New York, heavy mixed precipitation is expected throughout the weekend. Weather forecasters said residents should expect snow, sleet and ice accumulations of six to 13 inches and wind gusts as high as 45 mph late Saturday and Sunday.
Meteorologists warn that the U.S. is about to get its 10th and coldest polar vortex stretching event this season. Weather forces in the Arctic are combining to push the chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the U.S. and Europe. The latest projected cold outbreak should first hit the northern Rockies and northern Plains on Saturday and then stick around all next week.
In Denver, where temperatures were expected to dip as low as 14 degrees over the weekend, the city has extended its cold weather shelters for those living on the streets.
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