A storm poised to dump up to 3 feet of snow from New York City to Boston and beyond beginning Friday could be one for the record books, forecasters warned, as residents scurried to stock up on food and water and road crews readied salt and sand. 
 
 A worker walks up towards a plow smoothing a large salt pile at Eastern Salt Company in Chelsea, Mass., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, in preparation for a major winter storm headed toward the U.S. Northeast.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kelly Pomerleau of Andover Small Engine Service repairs a snow blower for a customer in Andover, Mass., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, in preparation for a major winter storm headed toward the U.S. Northeast.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Municipal trucks fill up with salt, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 in Portsmouth, N.H. as the Northeast prepares for a snowstorm later this week. The National Weather Service says the snow will start falling... (Associated Press) 
 
 This image made available by NOAA shows storm systems over the eastern half of the United States on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 at 11:15 EST. A blizzard of potentially historic proportions threatened to strike... (Associated Press) 
 
 Chris Oppenberg of Andover Small Engine Service assembles a home generator for a customer in Andover, Mass., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, in preparation for a major winter storm headed toward the U.S. Northeast.... (Associated Press) 
 
 A pair of storms will combine off the Northeast coast, bringing heavy snow and strong winds throughout New England. Another storm will move into the West, bringing rain and high elevation snow from California... (Associated Press) 
 
 Before the first snowflake had fallen, Boston, Providence, R.I., Hartford, Conn., and other towns and cities in New England and upstate New York towns canceled school Friday, and airlines scratched more than 2,600 flights through Saturday, with the disruptions from the blizzard certain to ripple across the U.S. 
 
 "This one doesn't come along every day. This is going to be a dangerous winter storm," said Alan Dunham, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass. "Wherever you need to get to, get there by Friday afternoon and don't plan on leaving." 
 
 The snow began falling Friday morning in some areas, with the heaviest amounts falling at night and into Saturday. Wind gusts could reach 75 mph. Widespread power failures were feared, along with flooding in coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy in October. 
 
 Boston could get up to 3 feet of snow, while New York City was expecting 10 to 12 inches. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said plows and 250,000 tons of salt were being put on standby. To the south, Philadelphia was looking at a possible 2 to 5 inches. 
 
 "We hope forecasts are exaggerating the amount of snow, but you never can tell," Bloomberg said, adding that at least the bad weather is arriving on a weekend, when the traffic is lighter and snowplows can clean up the streets more easily. 
 
 Amtrak said its Northeast trains will stop running Friday afternoon. The organizers of New York's Fashion Week _ a closely watched series of fashion shows held under a big tent _ said they will have extra crews to help with snow removal and will turn up the heat and add an extra layer to the venue. 
 
 Blizzard warnings were posted for parts of New Jersey and New York's Long Island, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, including Hartford, New Haven, Conn., and Providence. The warnings extended into New Hampshire and Maine. 
 
 In New England, it could prove to be among the top 10 snowstorms in history, and perhaps even break Boston's record of 27.6 inches, set in 2003, forecasters said. The last major snowfall in southern New England was well over a year ago _ the Halloween storm of 2011. 
 
 Dunham said southern New England has seen less than half its normal snowfall this season, but "we're going to catch up in a heck of a hurry." He added: "Everybody's going to get plastered with snow." 
 
 Diane Lopes was among the shoppers who packed a supermarket Thursday in the coastal fishing city of Gloucester, Mass. She said she went to a different grocery earlier in the day but it was too crowded. Lopes said she has strep throat and normally wouldn't leave the house but had to stock up on basic foods _ "and lots of wine." 
 
 She chuckled at the excitement the storm was creating in a place where snow is routine. 
 
 "Why are us New Englanders so crazy, right?" she said. 
 
 At a Shaw's supermarket in Belmont, Mass., Susan Lichtenstein stocked up, with memories of a 1978 blizzard on her mind. "This is panic shopping, so bread, milk, a snow shovel in case our snow shovel breaks," she said. 
 
 In New Hampshire, Dartmouth College student Evan Diamond and other members of the ski team were getting ready for races at the Ivy League school's winter carnival. 
 
 "We're pretty excited about it because this has been an unusual winter for us," he said. "We've been going back and forth between having really solid cold snaps and then the rain washing everything away." 
 
 But he said the snow might be too much of a good thing this weekend: "For skiing, we like to have a nice hard surface, so it will be kind of tough to get the hill ready." 
 
 The governors of Connecticut and Massachusetts ordered nonessential state workers to stay home Friday and urged travelers to stay home. 
 
 Terrance Rodriguez, a doorman at a luxury apartment complex in Boston, took the forecast in stride. 
 
 "It's just another day in Boston. It's to be expected. We're in a town where it's going to snow," he said. "It's like doomsday prep. It doesn't need to be. People just take it to the extreme." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Lyme, N.H., Lisa Rathke in Montpelier, Vt., Jay Lindsay in Gloucester, Mass., and Denise Lavoie, Rodrique Ngowi and Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report. ||||| As snow began falling on Friday morning, local authorities from New York City to Maine were making preparations for what forecasters said could be the biggest blizzard for some cities in the Northeast in a century. 
 
 Airlines began announcing the suspension of flights out of New York and Boston airports starting Friday night, as thousands of workers readied their plows, checked their stocks of salt and braced for what will most likely be a cold, wet weekend. Amtrak announced that it would suspend northbound service out of Penn Station in New York and southbound service out of Boston beginning early Friday afternoon. 
 
 Gas stations in parts of New York City and New Jersey had long lines Thursday night, according to local residents, a signal, perhaps, that many were taking storm warnings seriously. 
 
 More than 2,200 flights for Friday had been canceled, according to the Web site FlightAware, the majority originating or departing from the areas affected by the storm. 
 
 By late Thursday night, schools across New York and Connecticut had announced they would close, or dismiss students early. 
 
 On Long Island, where some forecasts said there could be more than 18 inches of snow, the power company, which has received heavy criticism for its response to Hurricane Sandy, promised customers that they were prepared. 
 
 The city of Boston, where forecasts called for more than two feet of snow to fall by Saturday, announced that it would close all schools on Friday, joining other localities in trying to get ahead of the storm and keep people off the roads. 
 
 “We are taking this storm very seriously and you should take this storm very seriously,” said Jerome Hauer, the New York State Commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, at an afternoon news conference. 
 
 “If you don’t have to go to work tomorrow, we suggest that you do not,” he said. “If you do, we suggest that you plan for an early departure.” 
 
 The latest forecasts, he said, called for between 12 and 20 inches of snow in the New York City region and wind gusts that could exceed 60 miles per hour. 
 
 However, with the storm still some distance away, forecasters warned that predictions could change. The first sign of the storm will be a dusting of light snow that is expected to start falling across the region Friday morning. 
 
 At some point Friday night, the arctic jet stream will drop down from Canada and intersect with the polar jet stream, which usually travels through the lower 48 states. 
 
 “They will cross somewhere between New Jersey and Nantucket,” said Tim Morrin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. “That is where the center of the storm will deepen and explosively develop.” 
 
 If the current models hold, the storm could rival the blizzard of 1978 in New England, when more than 27 inches of snow fell in Boston and surrounding cities. That storm, which occurred on a weekday, resulted in dozens of deaths and crippled the region for days. 
 
 Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said more than 20 agencies had gathered at the agency’s operations center in Framingham, Mass., where they were preparing for a historic storm. 
 
 “From our perspective, this is a very severe, blizzard-type storm that we haven’t had for quite a long time,” Mr. Judge said. “Worst-case scenario, this will be the worst one that we’ve dealt with in many, many years. I can’t even come up with something comparable.” 
 
 Officials prepared for debris management, snow removal and supplies distribution, he said, as well as widespread power failures, which he said were the major concern. “People will lose their heat when they lose their power, and they’re certainly much more in harm’s way than at other times of the year,” he said. 
 
 Marc Santora reported from New York. Jess Bidgood and Katharine Q. Seelye contributed reporting from Boston. ||||| A powerful blizzard is pummeling Massachusetts tonight with heavy snow and howling winds as residents hunker down in their homes. The potentially historic storm is expected to continue into the morning, dumping more than 2 feet of snow in some areas, whipping winds up to 70 miles per hour, and battering the coast with giant waves. 
 
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 I live in California. More specifically, I live in San Jose, CA which is about 60 miles south of San Francisco. In case you haven't heard, California is in a devastating drought brought on by 3 years of well below normal rainfall and snowfall (Figure 1). This, of course, is big news for many residents living within the state, and is having huge implications not only for residential use, but for agriculture use as well. Farmers are running out of water, which wil... ||||| A blizzard is expected to hit the Northeastern U.S. Are you there? Send in time-lapse videos and photographs of the storm. But please stay safe 
 
 New York (CNN) -- Stores across the Northeast were packed with shoppers as people prepared for what could be a historic blizzard set to arrive on Friday. 
 
 In Reading, Massachusetts, residents were preparing for several feet of snow that could leave them stuck in their homes for days. 
 
 "It's a zoo in there. There's nothing left on the shelves. ... I think I got every bottle of water that they had in stock," Elizabeth Fraiser told CNN afilliate WHDH. 
 
 At the Home Depot, another resident said she had essential supplies but wanted to be doubly sure she was ready. 
 
 "I have a lot of it, but just want to be prepared. You never know," Joanna Spinosa said. 
 
 A picture posted on the website of CNN affiliate WCVB showed long lines at a gas station in Boston. 
 
 Travelers looking up flight details on airline websites were seeing the word "Canceled" over and over. And it wasn't just affecting travelers in the Northeast. 
 
 Nearly 3,300 flights were canceled in anticipation of the storm as emergency crews geared up for inclement weather, most of which was expected late Friday into Saturday. 
 
 According to the flight-tracking website Flight Aware, airports from Logan in Boston to O'Hare in Chicago to Reagan National in Washington were seeing significant number of flights -- inbound and outbound -- called off for Friday. More than 60 U.S. airports reported flight cancellations, Flight Aware said. 
 
 Amtrak canceled many trips in the Northeast corridor. The rail transit company said on its website that northbound service from New York's Penn Station would be suspended after 1 p.m Friday. 
 
 Two ferocious storm systems are expected to converge across the Northeast on Friday and spawn nightmares for a large swath of the country. 
 
 A wintry blast churning across the nation and a cold front barreling up the East Coast will unite and could dump as much as a foot of snow in New York and up to 3 feet in Boston. 
 
 Boston could see snowfall of 2 to 3 inches per hour, as frigid gusts swirl across the region. The system has already drawn comparisons to the "Great Blizzard" of 1978, when thousands were stranded as fast-moving snow drifts blanketed highways and left several people dead. 
 
 The most severe weather is expected to hit Massachusetts between 2 and 5 p.m. on Friday. 
 
 Gov. Deval Patrick announced Thursday that all non-emergency workers should work from home. He canceled all school classes on Friday. 
 
 "Be a good neighbor. Check on the elderly," he said, advising residents not to bring portable stoves, charcoal or gas grill indoors out of concern for potential fire hazards or carbon monoxide poisoning. 
 
 All vehicles must be off the roads by noon on Friday, and Boston's public rail system will halt service at 3:30 p.m. A fleet of 600 snow removers will be manned by municipal workers and contractors as authorities gear up for what they say could be a 36-hour storm. 
 
 "We are hearty New Englanders and used to these kinds of storms, but I also want to remind people to use common sense and stay off the streets," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. 
 
 Forecasters warned of potential white-out conditions across New England and parts of New York. 
 
 "If you are on the highway and you are stuck, you are putting yourself in danger," said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. 
 
 Meanwhile, residents stocked up after authorities announced that public schools across several New England states would not hold classes Friday. 
 
 "They're coming in buying shovels, ice melts and sleds," said Atton Shipman, who works at Back Bay Hardware in Boston. 
 
 Social media was abuzz with chatter about the incoming weather. 
 
 "Just a reminder of what the ground looks like in case anyone forgets in a couple of days," tweeted Ryan Pickering, after posting a close-up photo of a Rhode Island roadway. 
 
 Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency officials said that they were busy salting roadways. 
 
 "Travel may become nearly impossible with blowing/drifting snow and near zero visibility during the height of the storm (Friday afternoon into Saturday morning)," the agency said in a statement. "Motorized vehicles are asked to stay off the roads if they can during the storm to allow snow plows to clear the roads." 
 
 Crews began preparing snow plows at Logan International Airport, where officials said the storm is expected to cause more flight delays and cancellations. 
 
 United Airlines said customers in storm-affected cities will be allowed to reschedule their itineraries "with a one-time date or time change, and the airline will waive the change fees." 
 
 Delta, Jet Blue, Southwest and other airlines offered their customers similar assurances. 
 
 In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy said utility companies were bringing additional crews from out of state to deal with potential power outages. Metro-North rail lines could also be closed at any time should winds exceed 40 mph. 
 
 The Connecticut National Guard has moved equipment to staging places, including several Black Hawk helicopters at Bradley International Airport north of Hartford. In Rhode Island, 300 members of a military police brigade were scheduled to drill on Saturday and Sunday but the drill has been moved up because of the storm. 
 
 A snow emergency went into effect in the southern Connecticut city of Stamford, beginning at 5 p.m. 
 
 In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the timing of the storm could actually benefit municipal workers. 
 
 "If it's going to happen, having it happen Friday overnight into Saturday is probably as good timing as we could have," Bloomberg said. "The sanitation department then has the advantage of being able to clean the streets when there's normally less traffic." 
 
 New York's Air National Guard unit on Long Island has some snowmobiles it can deploy to help with search and rescue or emergency transportation. If Gov. Andrew Cuomo were to order the National Guard to assist, each of New York's Guard's six operating areas will be ready to deploy 10 Humvees and 40 troops trained in disaster response. 
 
 By late Thursday, the National Weather Service had issued a blizzard warning from 6 a.m. Friday until 1 p.m. Saturday, with wind gusts up to 50 mph, creating dangerous driving conditions with visibilities near zero in white-out conditions. 
 
 Consolidated Edison, a main utility company for the New York region, said it is preparing additional crews to deal with potential power outages and advised customers to stay clear of downed power lines. 
 
 Long island Power Authority, which received intense criticism over its handling of Superstorm Sandy, said it was preparing. 
 
 Record-breaking snowfall could hit Hartford, Connecticut, as well. 
 
 "We expect snow and then rain, and severe coastal flooding," said CNN meteorologist Sarah Dillingham. 
 
 Wind will also be a major concern. Gusts could reach 75 mph along Cape Cod and 55 mph in the Long Island Sound and cause coastal flooding, with tides rising about three to five feet. 
 
 As more miserable weather slams the region, those affected by Superstorm Sandy will be further hampered by high winds, cold temperatures and more beach erosion. 
 
 Parts of the region are under a blizzard watch. 
 
 In New Hampshire, there are people who actually want a lot of snow. 
 
 "Natural snow definitely gets people to remind them that there are winter activities," Lori Rowell, director of marketing for Pats Peak ski resort in Henniker, told CNN affiliate WBZ. 
 
 Steve Livingston said he usually sells 30 to 35 snowmobiles a week at his shop, but he hasn't sold any in the past week. 
 
 Sales have been super slow," said Livingston, owner of Livingston's Arctic Cat in Hillsborough. "I hope we get as much snow as we can possibly deal with. That would be like a hot summer day for Hampton Beach for us." 
 
 CNN's Larry Shaughnessy contributed to this report. ||||| A blizzard of potentially historic proportions threatened to strike the Northeast with a vengeance Friday, with 1 to 2 feet of snow feared along the densely populated Interstate 95 corridor from the New York City area to Boston and beyond. 
 
 Kelly Pomerleau of Andover Small Engine Service repairs a snow blower for a customer in Andover, Mass., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, in preparation for a major winter storm headed toward the U.S. Northeast.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Municipal trucks fill up with salt, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 in Portsmouth, N.H. as the Northeast prepares for a snowstorm later this week. The National Weather Service says the snow will start falling... (Associated Press) 
 
 Chris Oppenberg of Andover Small Engine Service assembles a home generator for a customer in Andover, Mass., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, in preparation for a major winter storm headed toward the U.S. Northeast.... (Associated Press) 
 
 A pair of storms will combine off the Northeast coast, bringing heavy snow and strong winds throughout New England. Another storm will move into the West, bringing rain and high elevation snow from California... (Associated Press) 
 
 From Pennsylvania to Maine, people rushed to stock up on food, shovels and other supplies, and road crews readied salt and sand, halfway through what had been a merciful winter. Boston, Providence, R.I., Hartford, Conn., and other New England cities called off school on Friday, and airlines canceled more than 1,700 flights, with the disruptions certain to ripple across the U.S. 
 
 Forecasters said this could one for the record books. 
 
 "This one doesn't come along every day. This is going to be a dangerous winter storm," said Alan Dunham, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass. "Wherever you need to get to, get there by Friday afternoon and don't plan on leaving." 
 
 The snow is expected to start Friday morning, with the heaviest amounts falling at night and into Saturday. Wind gusts could reach 65 mph. Widespread power failures were feared, along with flooding in coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy in October. 
 
 Boston could get more than 2 feet of snow, while New York City was expecting 10 to 14 inches. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said plows 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," Bloomberg said, adding that at least the bad weather is arriving on a weekend, when the traffic is lighter and snowplows can clean up the streets more easily. 
 
 Amtrak said its Northeast trains will stop running Friday afternoon. The organizers of New York's Fashion Week _ a closely watched series of fashion shows held under a big tent _ said they will have extra crews to help with snow removal and will turn up the heat and add an extra layer to the venue. 
 
 Blizzard warnings were posted for parts of New Jersey and New York's Long Island, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, including Hartford, New Haven, Conn., and Providence. The warnings extended into New Hampshire and Maine. 
 
 In New England, it could prove to be among the top 10 snowstorms in history, and perhaps even break Boston's record of 27.6 inches, set in 2003, forecasters said. The last major snowfall in southern New England was well over a year ago _ the Halloween storm of 2011. 
 
 Dunham said southern New England has seen less than half its normal snowfall this season, but "we're going to catch up in a heck of a hurry." He added: "Everybody's going to get plastered with snow." 
 
 Diane Lopes was among the shoppers who packed a supermarket Thursday in the coastal fishing city of Gloucester, Mass. She said she went to a different grocery earlier in the day but it was too crowded. Lopes said she has strep throat and normally wouldn't leave the house but had to stock up on basic foods _ "and lots of wine." 
 
 She chuckled at the excitement the storm was creating in a place where snow is routine. 
 
 "Why are us New Englanders so crazy, right?" she said. 
 
 At a Shaw's supermarket in Belmont, Mass., Susan Lichtenstein stocked up, with memories of a 1978 blizzard on her mind. "This is panic shopping, so bread, milk, a snow shovel in case our snow shovel breaks," she said. 
 
 In New Hampshire, Dartmouth College student Evan Diamond and other members of the ski team were getting ready for races at the Ivy League school's winter carnival. 
 
 "We're pretty excited about it because this has been an unusual winter for us," he said. "We've been going back and forth between having really solid cold snaps and then the rain washing everything away." 
 
 But he said the snow might be too much of a good thing this weekend: "For skiing, we like to have a nice hard surface, so it will be kind of tough to get the hill ready." 
 
 Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick ordered non-emergency state employees to work from home on Friday and urged private employers to do the same. 
 
 Terrance Rodriguez, a doorman at a luxury apartment complex in Boston, took the forecast in stride. 
 
 "It's just another day in Boston. It's to be expected. We're in a town where it's going to snow," he said. "It's like doomsday prep. It doesn't need to be. People just take it to the extreme." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Lyme, N.H., Lisa Rathke in Montpelier, Vt., Jay Lindsay in Gloucester, Mass., and Denise Lavoie, Rodrique Ngowi and Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report.
– The blizzard barreling toward the Northeast is still on track to bury New England and New York City later today, reports AP. The big airlines have canceled nearly 3,000 flights so far, reports CNN, and that number is only going to grow. Boston could get three feet of snow and New York City could get a foot and a half, according to the latest forecasts; both cities and other surrounding areas are bracing for the storm. Boston's Logan Airport and transit system will shut down this afternoon, the Globe reports; Amtrak and Greyhound routes between NYC and Boston are being suspended; schools have been closed; utility companies are prepping. The snow is expected to start in the morning, get heaviest at night, and continue into tomorrow morning. Weather Underground's liveblog reports that light snow has started falling in upstate New York; residents of that state and New Jersey were filling up their tanks last night, reports the New York Times, which notes this could be the biggest blizzard in a century for some areas. "This is going to be a dangerous winter storm," says a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass. "Wherever you need to get to, get there by Friday afternoon and don't plan on leaving."