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  • Chris Oppenberg of Andover Small Engine Service assembles a home generator for a customer in Andover, Mass., on Thursday in preparation for a major winter storm headed toward the Northeast. The National Weather Service calls for up to 2 feet of snow in the Boston-area region. Associated Press

    Blizzard threatens Northeast
February 8, 2013

Blizzard threatens Northeast

Potential for 1 to 2 feet of snow

BRIDGET MURPHY Associated Press

BOSTON — A blizzard of potentially historic proportions threatened to strike the Northeast with a vengeance Friday, with 1 to 2 feet of snow feared along the densely populated Interstate 95 corridor from the New York City area to Boston and beyond.

From Pennsylvania to Maine, people rushed to stock up on food and other storm supplies, and road crews readied salt and sand, halfway through what was looking like a merciful winter. Boston and Providence, R.I., called off school on Friday, and airlines canceled nearly 3,000 flights and counting, with the disruptions certain to ripple across the U.S.

Forecasters said this could one for the record books.

“This one doesn’t come along every day. This is going to be a dangerous winter storm,” said Alan Dunham, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass. “Wherever you need to get to, get there by Friday afternoon and don’t plan on leaving.”

The snow is expected to start Friday morning, with the heaviest amounts falling at night and into Saturday. Wind gusts could reach 65 mph. Widespread power failures were feared, along with flooding in coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy in October.

Boston could get up to 2 feet of snow, while New York City was expecting 10 to 14 inches. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said plows and 250,000 tons of salt were being put on standby.

“We hope forecasts are exaggerating the amount of snow, but you never can tell,” he said.

Blizzard warnings were posted for parts of New Jersey and New York’s Long Island, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, including Hartford, Conn., and Providence. The warnings extended into New Hampshire and Maine.

In New England, it could prove to be among the top 10 snowstorms in history, and perhaps even break Boston’s record of 27.6 inches, set in 2003, forecasters said.

The last major snowfall in southern New England was well over a year ago — the Halloween storm of 2011.

Dunham said southern New England has seen less than half its normal snowfall this season, but “we’re going to catch up in a heck of a hurry.”

“Everybody’s going to get plastered with snow,” he said.

Diane Lopes was among the shoppers who packed a supermarket Thursday in the coastal fishing city of Gloucester, Mass. She said she went to a different grocery earlier in the day but it was too crowded. Lopes said she has strep throat and normally wouldn’t leave the house but had to stock up on basic foods — “and lots of wine.”

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