Storms to bring dangerous holiday travel to South, West Coast

A series of storms fueled by an atmospheric river are threatening to bring landslides, flooding, heavy snow and damaging winds to the West Coast as we head into the holiday week.

The coastlines of Washington state and Oregon are under a flood watch from Friday through Sunday morning.

By Saturday, the heavy rain will move into the northernmost part of California, and by Sunday, it'll push into San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Eastern Washington and Oregon will see the highest rainfall totals. Up to 5 inches possible.

Northern California could get 2 to 3 inches of rain, while Southern California may see about 1 inch.

In the mountains, an avalanche warning has been issued in the Cascades, where several feet of snow is possible.

Across the country, another storm will be targeting the South just in time for the holiday travel weekend.

The storm will develop Friday night into Saturday in the western Gulf Coast and will move east on Sunday, bringing heavy rain from Texas to Florida and all of the Gulf Coast states.

Northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina will be the hardest hit, with some flooding possible.

Some areas could see 3 to 5 inches of rain by the time the storm moves out next week.

But most of the South will defrost in time for Christmas.

On Christmas Day, temperatures are forecast to be in the 70s in Florida and parts of Texas, in the 60s from Oklahoma to the Carolinas, and the 50s from southern Missouri to Virginia.

The Northeast and Midwest -- from Kansas to southern Michigan -- will also thaw out, with temperatures forecast to be in the 40s on Christmas.