[gatagato]

NEW YORK (AP) -- A "potentially historic" storm could dump 2 to 3 feet of snow from northern New Jersey to southern Maine starting Monday, crippling a region that has largely been spared so far this winter, the National Weather Service said. A blizzard warning was issued for a 250-mile stretch of the Northeast, including New York and Boston, and the National Weather Service said the massive storm would bring heavy snow, powerful winds and widespread coastal flooding starting Monday and through Tuesday. In a news conference Sunday afternoon, New York mayor Bill de Blasio urged New Yorkers not to underestimate the storm. "This could be the biggest snowstorm in the history of this city," he said. He said it was possible as much as three feet of snow could fall, and asked residents to change their plans to avoid traveling as much as possible. De Blasio held up a piece of paper showing the city's top 10 snowstorms and said this one could land at the top of a list that goes back to 1872, including the 26.9 inches that fell in 2006. "Don't underestimate this storm. Prepare for the worst," he said as he urged residents to plan to leave work early Monday. Boston is expected to get 18 to 24 inches of snow, with up to 3 feet west of the city, and Philadelphia could see 14 to 18 inches, the weather service said. "We do anticipate very heavy snowfall totals," said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the weather service in College Park, Maryland. "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." Wind gusts of 75 mph or more are possible for coastal areas of Massachusetts, and up to 50 mph further inland, Oravec said. Airlines prepared to shut down operations along the East Coast, leading to the expected cancellation of about 1,200 flights scheduled for Monday, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. A weekend storm that had brought snow and slush to the Northeast -- the first real snow of the season for many areas -- was just a warm-up. "Looks like our luck is about to run out," said John Paulsen as he gassed up his SUV in New Jersey. "I can't complain too much since we've had a pretty mild winter, but I don't know if I'm ready for a foot or so of snow all at once." The storm system driving out of the Midwest brought several inches of snow to Ohio on Sunday and was expected to ultimately spread from the nation's capital to Maine for a "crippling and potentially historic blizzard," the National Weather Service said. The Washington area expected only a coating or a bit more, with steadily increasing amounts as the storm plods its way north. At New York's Penn Station, Cicero Goncalves was waiting for a train to Vermont, where he's going snowboarding, because he expected the flight he had hoped to take would be canceled. But the 34-year-old flight attendant from Queens -- who was dressed in a full-length bear costume -- counted himself and his travel partner as lucky. "We'll get there before it snows, and we're coming back when the storm is over, on Thursday," he said. Preparations large and small were in effect elsewhere in New York. A Manhattan Home Depot store sold about twice as many shovels over the weekend as it normally does, and transit officials hoping to keep the subways running smoothly planned to use modified subway cars loaded with de-icing fluid to spray the third rail that powers trains. Farther north, snow plow driver Al Laplant expected to be out clearing roads of Simsbury, Connecticut, this week, just as he has for more than two decades. But even for a plow driver, the snow is no cakewalk. "It's kind of exhilarating," he said. "But at the same time, I've been doing it for 27 years, so I'm kind of tired of it myself." The Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots also expected to be out -- as in out of town -- by the time the storm arrives in Boston. The team plans to leave Logan Airport at 12:30 p.m. Monday for Phoenix, where the temperature will reach the high 60s.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2091166
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6540898.html
http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigw...9#.VMXd1NLF-Sp
http://www.weather.com/storms/winter...orm-early-week

Blizzard Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1001 PM EST SUN JAN 25 2015

...A CRIPPLING AND POTENTIALLY HISTORIC BLIZZARD TO IMPACT THE
AREA MAINLY FROM LATE MONDAY INTO TUESDAY...LINGERING INTO EARLY
WEDNESDAY...

MAZ005>007-013>021-RIZ001>008-261115-
/O.CON.KBOX.BZ.W.0001.150127T0000Z-150128T0600Z/
CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA-WESTERN ESSEX MA-EASTERN ESSEX MA-
WESTERN NORFOLK MA-SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA-SUFFOLK MA-
EASTERN NORFOLK MA-NORTHERN BRISTOL MA-WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA-
EASTERN PLYMOUTH MA-SOUTHERN BRISTOL MA-SOUTHERN PLYMOUTH MA-
NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI-SOUTHEAST PROVIDENCE RI-WESTERN KENT RI-
EASTERN KENT RI-BRISTOL RI-WASHINGTON RI-NEWPORT RI-
BLOCK ISLAND RI-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FRAMINGHAM...LOWELL...LAWRENCE...
GLOUCESTER...FOXBORO...NORWOOD...CAMBRIDGE...BOSTO N...QUINCY...
TAUNTON...BROCKTON...PLYMOUTH...FALL RIVER...NEW BEDFORD...
MATTAPOISETT...FOSTER...SMITHFIELD...PROVIDENCE...
WEST GREENWICH...WARWICK...BRISTOL...NARRAGANSETT...WES TERLY...
NEWPORT...BLOCK ISLAND
1001 PM EST SUN JAN 25 2015

...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM MONDAY TO 1 AM
EST WEDNESDAY...

* LOCATIONS...EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS AS WELL AS
ALL OF RHODE ISLAND.

* HAZARD TYPES...HEAVY SNOW...STRONG WINDS AND BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS. CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. STRONG TO
DAMAGING WINDS.

* ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF AROUND 20 TO 30 INCHES...
WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. SNOWFALL RATES OF 2 TO 4 INCHES AN
HOUR AT TIMES.

* TIMING...WHILE THE STORM IS EXPECTED LATE MONDAY LINGERING
INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY...THE WORST OF THE STORM WILL BE MONDAY
NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

* IMPACTS...HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL RESULT IN WHITE-OUT
/ BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY. TRAVEL WILL
BE IMPOSSIBLE AND LIFE THREATENING ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION.
ALSO SNOW MAY BE WET ENOUGH TO RESULT IN DOWNED TREE LIMBS AND
POWER OUTAGES IN ADDITION TO THE WINDS.

* WINDS...NORTH-NORTHEAST 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS AROUND 65 TO 75
MPH. THE HEIGHT OF THE WINDS WILL BE LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO
TUESDAY. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE ACROSS THE COASTAL AREAS.

* VISIBILITIES...ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS OR FREQUENT
GUSTS OVER 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH CONSIDERABLE FALLING AND/OR
BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. VISIBILITIES WILL BECOME POOR WITH
WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES. THOSE VENTURING OUTDOORS MAY BECOME
LOST OR DISORIENTED...SO PERSONS IN THE WARNING AREA ARE ADVISED
TO STAY INDOORS.

ALL UNNECESSARY TRAVEL IS DISCOURAGED BEGINNING MONDAY
AFTERNOON... TO ALLOW PEOPLE ALREADY ON THE ROAD TO SAFELY REACH
THEIR DESTINATION BEFORE THE HEAVY SNOW BEGINS...AND TO ALLOW
SNOW REMOVAL EQUIPMENT TO BEGIN TO CLEAR ROADS.

&&

$$


Hazardous Weather Outlook
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
628 PM EST SUN JAN 25 2015

CTZ002>004-MAZ005-006-012>014-017-018-020-021-RIZ001>008-262330-
HARTFORD CT-TOLLAND CT-WINDHAM CT-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA-
WESTERN ESSEX MA-SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-WESTERN NORFOLK MA-
SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA-NORTHERN BRISTOL MA-WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA-
SOUTHERN BRISTOL MA-SOUTHERN PLYMOUTH MA-NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI-
SOUTHEAST PROVIDENCE RI-WESTERN KENT RI-EASTERN KENT RI-BRISTOL RI-
WASHINGTON RI-NEWPORT RI-BLOCK ISLAND RI-
628 PM EST SUN JAN 25 2015

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM MONDAY TO 1 AM EST
WEDNESDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT...CENTRAL
MASSACHUSETTS...EASTERN
MASSACHUSETTS...NORTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS...SOUTHEASTERN
MASSACHUSETTS...AND RHODE ISLAND.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

BLIZZARD WARNING

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED BEGINNING MONDAY
AFTERNOON.

$$

[spudigitti]

Good luck you guys...
Be safe...

[rob666]

The snow isn't so bad, we can handle that...... The wind with it will be a bitch.

[bob351]

I don't get why it seems every year the news makes some giant deal out of normal winter weather. It seems every year for the past who knows how long has been "record" or "snowmageddon" or "potential historical storm of the century that we report on every other week but turns out to be just normal weather" or some other bullshit they drum up.

[Illusion]

Well it's about time.

[jesse]

I am just so glad I am in Florida right now.

[KKSki]

Media scare-tactics bullshit. I am in PA. We were told between 10 to 20 inches in our area. We've gotten 3" so far. They were saying these would be "record breaking amounts". I remember in 1993 and 1996, waking up to snow covering my windows. We lived in upstate NY at the time. I don't think they should be predicting "state of emergency" snowstorm weather, unless it actually is going to snow more than 3 feet in a week.

[kellyhound]

and like most of the time these fear spreading weathermen and women were wrong but they sure like to attract attention. lol