With a little more than a week left before the start of spring, the northeastern U.S. is bracing for a major blizzard.
The National Weather Service is forecasting the bitter blast to roll up the coast Monday night and into Tuesday for most of the region. A blizzard watch has been issued for parts of the Northeast, including New York City and Boston, with up to 30 to 45 centimeters of snow expected in some areas.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that the State Emergency Operations Center will be activated Monday evening, with stockpiles of sandbags, generators and pumps at the ready.
Washington, which often bogs down with even low levels of snow, is expecting 13 centimeters in the city and twice that in outlying areas.
The storm raised the potential for dangerous travel and power outages with damaging wind gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour possible across eastern Long Island and southeastern Connecticut, the National Weather Service said.