Nearly 17 million people under flood watches in the Northeast

Nearly 17 million people on the East Coast are under flood watches, with the highest threat for flooding stretching across the Northeast.

There are also a number of thunderstorms on the East Coast that may become severe. Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Savannah and Myrtle Beach all have the risk for strong to severe storms on Saturday.

In South Carolina, the Isle of Palms Police Department said they had begun to see rising water levels.

“We are starting to see high water levels on island roads. Many roads are not passable to small vehicles. Please do not be driving right now if you do not absolutely need to be. Remember turn around don’t drown,” Isle of Palms police said in a statement.

Damaging winds and an isolated tornado are the main threats to watch for this weekend.

The severe threat tapers down into the night Saturday, with quiet and cooler weather for much of the eastern half of the country heading through Sunday and into the start of next week.

Up the coast, the rainy Saturday stretches through the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast.

Rain is moving in during the morning for cities like Washington, D.C., and Baltimore and eventually moving into New York City and Boston during the afternoon.

Heading into the evening, heavy rain will be drenching much of the I-95 corridor. The ground is saturated across a large swath of the Northeast following the rounds of rain this week.

Winter precipitation over the past 3 months running up to 200% above normal in parts of the region.

Meanwhile in the mountains of upstate New York and New England, heavy wet snow will be falling. Winter storm alerts are in effect for northern New York State, as well as Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

The higher elevations may be seeing snow totals of 6 to 12 inches from this storm. The northern Adirondacks, in New York, and some peaks in the White Mountains, in New Hampshire, may be seeing more than a foot of snow from this late-season storm.