BOSTON (AP) — People in the Northeast stocked up on food and supplies and road crews readied salt and sand today as the region braced for a major winter storm that could bring up to 2 feet of snow to places that haven’t seen significant accumulations in more than a year.
The National Weather Service said most of southern New England could see anywhere from 18 to 24 inches between tomorrow and Saturday, and some other forecasts cautioned that totals could be even higher. Suffolk County in New York was under a blizzard watch, as were parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
New York City was expecting between four and six inches of snow. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said plows and 250 000 tons of salt were being put on standby to start clearing the streets.
“We hope forecasts are exaggerating the amount of snow, but you never can tell,” he said, adding that if bad weather has to happen, it’s better to have it on a weekend.
Meteorologist William Babcock with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass., says it’s looking like it is going to be a very powerful storm. If everything falls the way it has the potential to it could be among the top 10 snowstorms in New England history.
