Voice Of Post

Updates: Up to 3 feet of snow expected in paralyzing Northeast blizzard, The snow is already falling in the Northeast on Monday morning — just the beginning of a multi-day nor’easter that could become one of the snowiest on record for the region.

One to 3 feet of snow, damaging winds, and white-out conditions are expected. Thousands of flights have been canceled. The National Weather Service is calling it a “crippling and potentially historic blizzard.”

The entire Northeast coast, from New Jersey to Maine, is covered in blizzard and winter storm warnings on Monday in anticipation of what could be the strongest East Coast winter storm in at least a decade. Over 29 million people are under a blizzard warning, and 14 million people are under a winter storm warning. From New York City to Boston, the worst impacts — heaviest snow, strongest winds – will hit between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon.

The storm’s final track will determine who sees the most snow this week. Though forecasts have been wavering on the snow totals in New York City, Boston has consistently been in the snowy bull’s-eye of this nor’easter. On Monday morning, the National Weather Service was forecasting 24 to 36 inches of snow for almost all of eastern Massachusetts, including Boston. Those forecast totals stretch south into Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Around New York, the snow forecast has been reduced since Sunday night — though the difference in impact could prove to be negligible. The Weather Service’s “most likely” snow forecast for the New York City metro area, Long Island and coastal Connecticut is 18 to 24 inches.New York City’s snowiest storm on record was Feb. 11-12, 2006, mostly on a Sunday, when 26.9 inches fell. Boston’s snowiest is Feb. 17-18, 2003, with 27.6 inches. Snowfall totals could approach the record in Boston, and the winter storm could be among the highest-impact for the city.

Wind gusts are expected to peak at 55 mph across parts of New York City and Long Island, and up to 75 mph in eastern Massachusetts. These wind speeds in combination with snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour will undoubtedly reduce visibility to near-zero at times, making travel impossible.

The storm’s strong winds will do more than cause blizzard conditions across the Northeast. A coastal flood warning is in effect for the entire shoreline of Massachusetts, for moderate to isolated areas of major flooding. The Weather Service writes that “flooding of vulnerable shore roads and basements expected … some structural damage is likely in most vulnerable locations. Severe beach erosion is expected …”

The Weather Channel’s Jonathan Erdman says that this was the strongest wording he’s seen in a coastal flood warning, outside of hurricane storm surge events.