If you're hitting the roads this holiday weekend, be mindful of storms coming to central, eastern US
The East Coast may see ice as near-blizzard conditions may hit the central U.S.
Two different storms are set to create hazardous travel conditions for those heading home after the holiday weekend in the central and eastern parts of the country.
The first worry is a storm expected to quickly race up the East Coast, bringing bring both ice and flooding threats.
The second concern is a developing winter storm in the central U.S. for Sunday that could deliver near-blizzard conditions on a busy travel day.
Storm No. 1
This storm is bringing widespread precipitation Saturday morning from Minnesota to the Carolinas.
The immediate concern is that some of the precipitation will be either freezing rain or an icy mix in the Appalachians, from western North Carolina through western Maryland.
This precipitation is moving north and east, and the icy mix will spread into parts of Pennsylvania and southern New York later this morning.
Temperatures Saturday morning are near freezing in places like Boone, North Carolina; Roanoke, Virginia; and Hagerstown, Maryland.
This can be a particularly dangerous situation as roads will appear wet, but actually be covered in ice.
The threat for icy conditions will wind down late in the morning as the region warms up.
Meanwhile, a coastal low will become stronger during the day on Saturday and rapidly spread heavy rain toward the Northeast.
Heavy rainfall and possible flooding will spread toward the major Interstate-95 cities Saturday night and into early Sunday.
Rainfall is expected to be between 1 and 2 inches in northern New Jersey, southern New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
By Sunday morning, the coastal low will bring heavy rain to parts of New England.
As the storm intensifies, it'll also bring with it the chance of some coastal flooding, especially along parts of Massachusetts.
The storm should be gone by late Sunday morning.
Storm No. 2
A new storm that has been dumping mountain snow onto parts of the Rocky Mountains will develop into a winter storm as it moves across the central Plains on Saturday night, taking snow to parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa by Sunday morning.
That storm is expected to quickly race toward the north and east, hitting southern Wisconsin and most of Illinois and Michigan by Sunday afternoon, with rain turning into snow.
Snowfall totals will mostly be between 3 and 6 inches from northeast Kansas to Michigan.
It appears the heavy snow and gusty winds will likely hit Chicago on Sunday afternoon during the busy travel day.
This could cause flight delays and cancellations, as well as dangerous driving conditions.
Winter weather alerts are currently in effect from the Rockies into the Great Lakes. Blizzard warnings are in effect in many cities as well, such as Goodland, Kansas and Hastings, Nebraska.
The National Safety Council projects that 433 people may be killed and another 49,400 may be seriously injured in car crashes over the Thanksgiving holiday.
In 2017, Thanksgiving was the second-deadliest holiday on the roads, trailing only the Fourth of July, the safety council said.
By Monday morning, the storm should move toward the Northeast, where, because of warmer air, most cities will only see rain. But some snow is possible in upstate New York and northern New England.
Strong winds are also likely, with gusts of 30 to 40 mph bringing near-whiteout conditions in some parts.
It will be extremely hazardous to travel in parts of the region on Sunday, especially on affected parts of I-35, I-80 and I-57.
On Sunday evening, snow and gusty winds will impact the Chicago metro area, with rain closeby. There will likely be a notable variation in conditions within a short driving distance.
Snow will continue from Illinois into northern Michigan through the evening. The storm is moving quickly and is expected to pass through the eastern Great Lakes Sunday night, bringing some rain to parts of the Northeast Monday morning.