America faces a tough weekend

(CNN) — The combination of wind, snow and rain that battered the central and eastern United States on Friday will continue Saturday with heavy rain — creating dangerous coastal flooding — in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, blizzard conditions in the Midwest and snow conditions in the Great Lakes, including the Buffalo region. Meanwhile, a ferocious blast of arctic air will sweep across the heart of the country in the midst of this storm.

East Coast Flooding Millions of people from North Carolina to Maine are under a flood watch or coastal flood warning as rain is expected to hit the East Coast this Saturday, as some areas try to recover from heavy rains and storms that battered the region earlier this week.

Water levels along the Maine coast are expected to reach record highs on Saturday, inundating coastal communities already battered by storm surges recorded on Wednesday.

The water level at Bar Harbor which touched 15 feet on Wednesday morning is predicted to cross 15 feet on Saturday afternoon.

In Portland, water is forecast to top 14 feet by Saturday morning, slightly higher than Wednesday's level, which broke the previous record set in 1978, the National Weather Service said.

The water is driven from the Atlantic Ocean by strong winds blowing towards the coast above high tide. Flooding is further exacerbated by heavy rains in the interior districts.

The water will cause significant beach erosion and splashing, the weather service said. “We expect to see water in areas that haven't flooded before,” said the service's office in Gray, Maine.

Coastal flooding may submerge vehicles in Northeast: A flood warning has been issued for a section of the northeast coast. While New York City remains under a coastal flood warning until Saturday afternoon, parts of Suffolk and Nassau counties may see severe coastal flooding up to 1 meter above ground level.

“It will close many roads and flood low-lying properties such as parking lots, parks, gardens and first floors and basements of homes and businesses near the beach,” the National Weather Service office in New York said. .

“Vehicles parked in vulnerable areas near the coast are likely to be flooded or submerged. Flooding has spread inland from the usual flood-prone areas in rivers and bays, causing inundation in some areas.” In generally non-flooded areas.”

Philadelphia remains under a coastal flood warning for much of Saturday, and Boston is expected to remain under a coastal flood warning from Saturday morning into the afternoon.

Millions were still under winter weather warnings on Saturday — warnings stretching from California to Maine.

Snow in Buffalo: In New York's Erie County, which includes Buffalo, officials have declared a state of emergency since Saturday because of the approaching storm and lake-effect snow, County Executive Mark Bollencarz announced.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said 30 cm to 1 meter of snow and strong winds could fall in the Buffalo area between Saturday and Monday morning.

'Life-threatening' blizzard conditions: Much of Iowa remains under a blizzard warning until Saturday night, when 15 to 25 centimeters of snow previously fell and gusts of up to 65 km/h. The storms hitting the Midwest led to the snowiest week in Des Moines since 1942.

The Iowa State Patrol responded to 355 vehicle assistance calls and 34 crashes Friday afternoon as wintry conditions hit the state, the agency said in a social media post.

The state Department of Transportation and Des Moines police urged travelers to stay off the roads amid “dangerous whiteout conditions, snow and slippery roads.”

In addition to hazardous travel conditions, snow is expected to significantly reduce visibility, the National Weather Service in Des Moines warned. “Extremely low wind chills … can cause frostbite on exposed skin within 30 minutes and can be life-threatening if you're stranded outside.”

Over 350,000 homes and businesses in the dark: High winds, severe storms and heavy snow battered several states and caused widespread power outages across the Great Lakes in the nation's south early Saturday morning. As of 1:30 p.m. Miami time, Michigan had the most utility customers without power — more than 150,000 — followed by Wisconsin with more than 100,000 customers.

Hundreds of minimum temperature records could be broken: More than 240 daily low temperature records could be tied or broken across the U.S. through Tuesday.

Wind chills will reach -56 degrees Celsius in parts of Montana this weekend. On Tuesday, the high temperature in Memphis, Tennessee could reach just -8 degrees Celsius, a new record.

Over the next week, more than 55 million people will endure frostbite.

Canceled flights: According to FlightAware.com, more than 2,000 flights were canceled on Friday. Most of the cancellations came from Chicago, with 40% of outbound flights canceled at O'Hare and 60% at Midway.

Eric Zerkel, Taylor Ward, Mary Gilbert, Holly Yan, Robert Shackelford, Dave Alsup, Joe Sutton and Sara Smart contributed to this report.