A new powerful storm system moving out of the Southwest through Saturday will stage a two-pronged attack on the Alexandria area.
 
By Saturday, blizzard conditions will spread from Ohio to southern Ontario, while severe weather will develop along the mid-Atlantic coast.

The new storm will be a near-copy of the storm that earlier in the week slammed across the eastern half of the country. The cold side will bring a nasty mix of snow and ice from Dallas to Detroit and into Canada, while the warm side of the system will spread rain across the Deep South and up the Eastern Seaboard.
 
The warm side of the storm will create its own set of problems across the Deep South and along the East Coast as far north as New England.

According to the AccuWeather.com Severe Weather Center, locally strong thunderstorms will erupt Friday along the central and eastern Gulf Coast. Severe storms will develop through tonight into Friday in the Big Bend area of the Texas Gulf Coast. The greatest threats will be flooding rain, hail and damaging straight line winds; however, the potential for isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out.

Storm-related watches and warnings are in effect along the Texas Gulf Coast, including Houston. Anyone in the region should be alert for severe weather and should be prepared to take precautionary measures at a moment’s notice.

In the South, rain through Friday will help to put a dent in the rainfall deficits in many areas across the Deep South. Once again, heavy rain, damaging hail and winds are forecast, along with the potential of isolated tornado development.

By Saturday, the potential of severe storms will shift to the East Coast where heavy rain this weekend in the Northeast will increase the flooding threat across the region.

Flood warnings are in effect across the Northeast. The flood threat will spread across the Appalachians, the mid-Atlantic and southeastern New England. In addition to urban and small stream flooding, there is the risk of major river flooding from Friday into Saturday.

Motorists should never attempt to drive through flooded roads and parents should keep children and pets away from swollen waterways.