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Forecasts warn of possible winter storms in the US during Thanksgiving week
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Forecasts warn of possible winter storms in the US during Thanksgiving week

WINDSOR, Calif. (AP) — Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, according to forecasts in the U.S., as California and Washington states continue to recover from storm damage and power outages.

In California, where two people were found dead in the water on Saturday, authorities braced for more rain as they battled flooding and small landslides from an earlier storm.

The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, California, has issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts possibly reaching 55 miles per hour. Total snowfall of around 1.2 meters was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations expected on Monday and Tuesday.

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The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow on Monday, and the East Coast will be hardest hit over Thanksgiving and Black Friday, forecasters said.

A low-pressure system is expected to bring rain to the southeast early Thursday before moving northeast. Areas from Boston to New York could experience rain and windy conditions, with snowfall possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks. If the system moves further inland, less snow and more rain could fall in the mountains, forecasters said.

“The system doesn’t look like a powerhouse right now,” Hayden Frank, a meteorologist with the Massachusetts weather service, said Sunday. “In principle, this will bring rain to the I-95 corridor, so travelers should prepare for wet weather. Unless the system gets much colder, it will look like rain.”

Frank said he doesn’t see any major storm systems arriving anywhere in the country this weekend, so travelers heading home Sunday can expect good driving conditions. However, temperatures will get colder in the east while warming in the west.

More rain expected after deadly ‘bomb cyclone’ on the west coast

Two people died in the Pacific Northwest after a rapidly intensifying “bomb cyclone” hit the West Coast last Tuesday, bringing fierce winds that toppled trees and power lines and damaged homes and cars. Hundreds of thousands of people lost electricity in Washington state before powerful winds and record rain hit Northern California. Fewer than 25,000 people in the Seattle area were still without power as of Sunday evening.

Two bodies were found Saturday in Sonoma County wine country north of San Francisco, authorities said. Someone walking on a trail near Santa Rosa found the body of a man in a swollen creek, according to the sheriff’s department. Hours later, rescue crews found a body in a vehicle floating in the waters of nearby Guerneville, Deputy Rob Dillion said. Investigators are trying to determine if the deaths are storm-related.

Santa Rosa experienced its wettest three-day period on record Friday evening with about 32 inches of rain, the National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area reported. Vineyards in nearby Windsor were flooded.

Forecasters say the risk of flooding and mudslides remains as the region receives more rain from Sunday. But the latest storm won’t be as intense as last week’s atmospheric river, a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows over land.

“However, there are still threats, smaller threats, and not as large in terms of magnitude, that will still exist on the West Coast for the next two or three days,” weather forecaster Rich Otto said.

As rain moves eastward throughout the week, Otto said, there is a chance of heavy snow at higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, as well as parts of Utah and Colorado.

California’s Mammoth Mountain, which received 0.6 meters of fresh snow during the recent storm, could receive another 1.2 meters before the latest system clears on Wednesday, the resort said.

Northeast receives the necessary precipitation

Parts of the Midwest and East Coast can expect heavy rain through Thanksgiving, and there is a chance of snow in the northeastern states.

A storm last week brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. The precipitation was expected to help alleviate the drought after an exceptionally dry autumn.

“It won’t be drought relief, but it will certainly help,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York.

Heavy snow fell across northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher highs reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with smaller accumulations in valley towns including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. About 35,000 customers in ten provinces were still without power, down from 80,000 a day ago.

In the Catskills region of New York, nearly 10,000 people were without power Sunday morning, two days after a storm dumped heavy snow on parts of the region.

The precipitation in West Virginia put a dent in the state’s worst drought in at least two decades and boosted ski areas as they prepare to open in the coming weeks.