Forecasters are warning of possible winter storms across the United States during Thanksgiving week

WINDSOR, Calif. (AP) – Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, according to forecasts across the United States, as California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power outages.

In California, where two people were found dead in flooding on Saturday, authorities braced for more rain as they battled flash floods and small landslides from a previous storm.

The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, Calif., issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, expecting heavy snow at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 km/h). Total snowfall of about 4 feet (1.2 meters) was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations expected Monday and Tuesday.

The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday, and the East Coast will be most affected on 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 see rain and windy conditions, with snowfall possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks. If the system tracks further inland, there could be less snow and more rain 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. “Basically, this will bring rain to the I-95 corridor, so travelers should prepare for wet weather. Unless the system develops much colder, it looks like rain.”

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

More rain is 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 violent winds that toppled trees and power lines and damaged houses and cars. Hundreds of thousands lost power in Washington state before strong winds and record-breaking rain moved into Northern California. Fewer than 25,000 people in the Seattle area were still without power Sunday night.

Two bodies were found Saturday in wine country Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, authorities said. A person 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 inside a vehicle bobbing in river water in nearby Guerneville, Deputy Chief Rob Dillion said. Investigators are trying to determine if the deaths were storm-related.

Santa Rosa saw its wettest three-day period on record with about 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) of rain Friday night, the National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area reported. Vineyards in nearby Windsor were flooded.

Forecasters said the risk of flooding and mudslides remained as the region receives more rain from Sunday. But the latest storm will not be as intense as last week’s atmospheric rivera long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows over land.

“However, there are still threats, minor threats and not as significant in magnitude, that will still exist across the West Coast for the next two or three days,” forecaster Rich Otto said.

As the rain moves east through the week, Otto said, there is a potential for heavy snowfall in higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada as well as parts of Utah and Colorado.

California’s Mammoth Mountain, which received 2 feet (0.6 meters) of new snow in the latest storm, could get another 4 feet (1.2 meters) before the newest system clears out Wednesday, the resort said.

The Northeast will receive much-needed rainfall

Into Thanksgiving, parts of the Midwest and East Coast can expect to see heavy rain, and there is the potential for 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 ease drought conditions after an unusually dry autumn.

“It’s not going to be a drought-buster, but it will certainly help,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.

Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with smaller accumulations in valley cities including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. About 35,000 customers in 10 counties were still without power, down from 80,000 a day ago.

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

Rainfall in West Virginia helped put a dent in the state’s worst drought in at least two decades and bolstered ski resorts as they prepare to open in the coming weeks.