At least nine people have died in the US as storms ripped through neighbourhoods and they are now set to bring snow and flooding to the east of the country.
Thousands have seen their homes damaged or destroyed by strong winds and tornadoes with so far nine people confirmed dead across southern states on Friday.
More than 750,000 homes and businesses in Tennessee and Kentucky are without electricity while many also do not have running water.
Kentucky Governor Andy Bashear warned of Friday being a “dangerous weather day” adding “there is a certainty of severe storms and significant wind gusts, with possibilities of flooding and tornadoes.”
In an update he later tweeted: “Kentucky please add one more family to your prayers tonight. We just learned of our third weather related death, this coming out of Logan County. Let’s continue to be there for one another as we mourn those losses.”
Three people were killed by falling trees in Alabama as severe weather swept through the state. In Mississippi, a woman died inside her SUV after a rotted tree branch struck her vehicle, and in Arkansas a man drowned after he drove into high floodwaters.
In Humphreys County, Tennessee, a man was also found dead after a tree hit his car, the sheriff's office said.
The storm system turned toward New England, where a mix of snow, sleet and rain is hitting the region on Friday night and lasting into Saturday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a winter storm warning.
There's a chance of coastal flooding in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the storm could bring as much as 18 inches of snow to parts of New Hampshire and Maine. The storm will also bring strong winds with gusts of 40 to 50 mph, which could cause power outages.
Airport officials in Portland, Maine, cancelled several flights for Saturday ahead of the weather and some libraries and businesses in the region announced weekend closures.
In California the weather system slammed the state earlier in the week with as much as 10 feet of snow. Some residents in mountains east of Los Angeles will likely remain stranded in their homes for at least another week after the snowfall proved too much to handle for most plows.
Many residents of Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas emerged Friday to find their homes and businesses damaged and trees toppled by the reported tornadoes. Tens of thousands were without power and some were also without water.
In Alabama, a 70-year-old man sitting in his truck in Talledega County was killed when a tree fell onto his vehicle. A 43-year-old man in Lauderdale County and a man in Huntsville also were killed by falling trees Friday, local authorities said.
In Texas, winds brought down trees, ripped the roof off a grocery store in Little Elm, north of Dallas, and overturned four 18-wheelers along US Highway 75. Minor injuries were reported, police said.
Winds of nearly 80mph were recorded near the Fort Worth suburb of Blue Mound. The roof of an apartment building in the suburb of Hurst was blown away, resident Michael Roberts told KDFW-TV.
"The whole building started shaking ... The whole ceiling is gone," Roberts said. "It got really crazy."
Heavy rain was also reported in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, causing flooding in both states.
In southwest Arkansas, Betty Andrews told KSLA-TV that she and her husband took shelter in the bathroom of their mobile home while a tornado moved through.
"It was very scary. I opened the front door to look out and saw it coming. I grabbed Kevin and went and got into the bathtub," Ms Andrews said. "We hunkered down, and I said some prayers until it passed."
They were uninjured but the home sustained major damage and the couple was temporarily trapped in the bathroom until a neighbour cleared debris from outside the door.
The storm barrelled Friday afternoon into the Detroit area, quickly covering streets and roads beneath a layer of snow. The weather service said some areas could see blizzard conditions with snowfall approaching three inches per hour.
Detroit-based DTE Energy reported more than 106,000 customers lost power on Friday evening. It was the latest slap after ice storms last week left more than 600,000 homes and businesses without power.
