Maps show winter storm forecast to bring up to 2 feet of snow, blizzard conditions to East Coast

(CBS) — More than 40 million people are under blizzard warnings Monday as a winter storm strikes the East Coast with heavy snow and fierce winds. In many parts of the Northeast it is forecast to be the biggest winter storm in nearly a decade, with 1 to 2 feet of snow possible.

Blizzard warnings stretch from Maryland to Maine and governors in eight states and several major cities declared states of emergency.

Bans on nonessential travel were announced for New Jersey and New York City, among other places.

“While we do get plenty of these nor’easters that produce heavy snow and strong impacts, it’s been several years since we saw one of this magnitude across this large of a region in this very populated part of the country,” Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the service’s Weather Prediction Center, told The Associated Press.

Maps show snow totals, blizzard warnings

The National Weather Service said 1 to 2 feet of snow could pile up in many areas, with lower snowfall totals in the Mid-Atlantic region. It warned flooding was also a risk in parts of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

New York City could be hit especially hard. Meteorologists forecast 12-18 inches of snow in the metro area, with more possible in some places. This is the first time in nine years that a blizzard warning has been issued for the Big Apple.

According to the weather service, a storm meets the definition of a blizzard when there is “snow and/or blowing snow reducing visibility to 1/4 mile or less for 3 hours or longer” along with “sustained winds of 35 mph or greater or frequent gusts to 35 mph or greater.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged New Yorkers to stay inside and off the roads for the duration of the storm. He canceled school for Monday and declared a state of emergency that includes a citywide travel ban through noon Monday, with streets, highways and bridges shut down to all traffic except essential and emergency services.

“New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade,” Mamdani said. “We are asking New Yorkers to avoid all nonessential travel.”

New York City was loading up more than 700 salt spreaders and turning more than 2,000 garbage trucks into snowplows, he said. This is the new mayor’s second major snowstorm in the first two months of his administration. At least 19 people died during brutally cold weather that lasted more than three weeks following the last storm.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency ahead of the nor’easter and activated about 100 members of the National Guard.

“This will be something the likes of which we’ve not seen in years,” Hochul said. “People will be in the dark. Long Island and New York City and lower Hudson are literally in the direct eye of the storm.”