Rain, snow continue to wreak havoc on holiday travel

A storm system playing havoc with holiday travelers returning home from vacation is moving into the Southeast on Thursday with severe storms and snow to the north.

The storm stretches from the Canadian border all the way down to the Mexican border, with blizzard-like conditions from Kansas to Minnesota and strong storms with heavy rain from Texas to Illinois.

The storm system will move north and east on Thursday night, spreading snow into the northern Great Lakes and rain from Minneapolis to Chicago and into the Ohio Valley. To the South, heavy rain will fall with flash flooding possible from New Orleans to Atlanta.

Severe weather, including damaging winds and an isolated tornado, is also possible on Thursday from Alabama to Louisiana to Mississippi.

Snow will be move into the Northeast from New York to Maine from Thursday night into Friday morning. Heavy rain is likely along the I-95 corridor from Boston down to Washington, D.C.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms are also expected in the south from Alabama to the Carolinas. Flash flooding is possible in the region.

By Friday evening, the heaviest rain should move out of the Northeast, but it will linger along the Gulf Coast and into the Southeast -- where the threat for flash flooding will continue.

Additional rainfall from Thursday through Saturday could amount to 3 to 5 inches of rain along the Gulf Coast.

To the north, an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow is possible in the Plains and northern Great Lakes.