Humongous winter storm poised to strike northeast US

Upwards of two feet of snow or more could shut down schools and businesses between Boston and New York, starting Monday.

A winter that has largely spared the Northeast thus far is about to arrive with gusto: a storm the National Weather Service called "potentially historic" could dump 2 feet or more of snow between New York and Boston.

Blizzard conditions with heavy snow and powerful winds are possible in both cities starting Monday and into Tuesday, and snow should arrive in some areas before daybreak — just in time for the start of the work week.

"This will be the strongest storm of the year," said NWS meteorologist Brian Hurley. "This Nor'easter is going to produce a wide swath of snowfall." New York City, Boston and Connecticut should expect whopping snow totals of up to 2 feet, he said.

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 sport utility vehicle 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 snow to Ohio on Sunday and was expected to ultimately spread it from the nation's capital to Maine.

Lesser totals were forecast for the Washington area — a coating or a bit more — with steadily increasing amounts expected as the storm plods its way north. Philadelphia could expect to see about 8 inches but points north and east should see more substantial snowfalls: 14 inches were possible in some parts of New Jersey, the National Weather service said Sunday afternoon.

The storm promised treacherous travel by both land and air throughout the busy northeast corridor.

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 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 while 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, a blizzard watch is in effect for Boston from Monday night through early Wednesday. Wind gusts of 60 mph or more are possible on Cape Cod, forecasters said.

Wyatt Baars, manager of the Charlestown Ace Hardware in Boston, sold out of his bags of ice-melting pellets. But he said a New Hampshire distributor is helping him and delivering more.

"Everybody is preparing for the storm," he said. "When we have something this big on the horizon, everybody comes in for the ice melt, snow shovels, snow brooms."

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.

"We'll be out there until the storm's over and then at least three hours after cleaning up," he said as he attended a home show in Hartford. "We'll be out there through the whole storm."

But even for a plow driver, the snow is no cake walk.

"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."