The U.S. National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for coastal states from New Jersey to Maine and also warned of widespread coastal flooding beginning late Monday and continuing through Tuesday.
“This could be a storm the likes of which we have never seen before,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
“Don’t underestimate this storm — prepare for the worst,” he said, advising residents to leave work early on Monday.
As much as two feet of snow or more is expected in Boston and Philadelphia could see as much as 18 inches, said Bob Oravec, head forecaster for the NWS in Maryland.
“We do anticipate very heavy snowfall totals,” Oravec said,
“In addition to heavy snow, with blizzard warnings, there’s a big threat of high, damaging winds, and that will be increasing Monday into Tuesday — a lot of blowing, drifting and such,” he said.
Wind gusts as high as 75 mph are possible in coastal Massachusetts as airlines began cancelling flights to and from heavily used east coast airports, the AP said.
Several inches of snow fell in Ohio on Sunday as the leading edge of the storm moved to the northeast.
In New York City, hardware stores reported sales of twice as many snow shovels as usual over the weekend and city transit officials reported loading subway cars with de-icing fluid to keep the electrified third rail that powers the trains pumping.
