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Massive Snowstorm US:Historic snowstorm warning in Northeast USA / US News

Winter storms are seen over Canada and the northeastern United States in this February 7, 2013 GOES satellite image courtesy of NOAA. New England braced on Thursday for a possibly record-setting winter storm, with forecasts of up to two feet (60 cm) of snow prompting local officials to urge residents to prepare.
Winter storms are seen over Canada and the northeastern United States in this February 7, 2013 GOES satellite image courtesy of NOAA. New England braced on Thursday for a possibly record-setting winter storm, with forecasts of up to two feet (60 cm) of snow prompting local officials to urge residents to prepare.

The Northeast is bracing itself for a historic blizzard that could dump record-breaking amounts of snow on New York and Boston on the 35th anniversary of the “Great Blizzard” of 1978.

Up to two feet of snow is forecast along the densely populated corridor from the New York City area northwards.

Boston and Providence in Rhode Island closed schools on Friday, and airlines cancelled more than 2,600 flights.

“Everybody’s going to get plastered with snow,” said Massachusetts-based National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Dunham.

The snow was expected to start on Friday morning, with the heaviest amounts falling at night and into Saturday.

Wind gusts could reach 65mph. Widespread power failures were feared, along with flooding in coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy in October.

New York City was expecting up to 14ins (35.5cm) of snow. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said ploughs 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 the New England region, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The warnings extended into New Hampshire and Maine.

In New England, it could prove to be among the worst 10 snowstorms ever, and perhaps even break Boston’s record of 27.6 ins (70cm), set in 2003.

Blizzard conditions are expected to begin on Friday and Boston city schools have already been ordered to close. Mayor Thomas Menino has also asked businesses to shut down in anticipation of the crippling storm system.

“We are hardly New Englanders, let me tell you, and used to these types of storms. But I also want to remind everyone to use common sense and stay off the streets of our city. Basically, stay home,” he told reporters.

Boston is expected to get one to two feet of snow, while New York could get about 10 inches.

Before its arrival, the storm has already been compared to the Blizzard of 1978, which killed 99 people, destroyed 2,000 homes and forced 10,000 Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents to evacuate into shelters.

In anticipation of the worst, Boston has already manned a fleet of 600 snow removal vehicles. Residents have prepared by stocking up on snow shovels, ice melts and sleds. Along the coast, US residents are preparing for flooding and are expecting further beach erosion to add to the damage left behind by Sandy.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled in cities ranging from Chicago to New Jersey to Boston and Amtrak has cancelled many of its train services for the weekend.

“This is likely to be a memorable blizzard with 18 to 24 inches of snow expected across portions of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine,” said Wes Junker of the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang. “Pockets of 30 inches or more are a good bet.”

Ski resorts are enthusiastically awaiting the storm to bring them snowfall that has so far been absent, but government officials are warning US residents to stay home during the predictably historic blizzard.

It comes just after the 35th anniversary of the blizzard of 1978, which paralysed New England with more than 2ft (60cm) of snow and hurricane-force winds.

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

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