Parts of the Northeast were getting walloped with what could amount to a foot of snow Monday, and accompanying strong winds could create dangerous road conditions just before New Hampshire residents gear up to cast their primary votes.
Coastal flooding was reported Monday night along the Massachusetts coast, where blizzard conditions were confirmed on Nantucket Island, with gusts whipping at more than 60 mph.
The eastern part of New England could get hit with5 to 8 inches of snow, while a stretch from Boston to Cape Cod could expect up to 12 inches by the time the storm passes Tuesday, said Kevin Roth, lead meteorologist for The Weather Channel. The cape had already gotten 6 inches by 1 p.m. Monday.
"Not only do you have a lot of wind, you've got snow, and that is making the roads just totally messy," said Ari Sarsalari, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel.
Winds gusting above 40 mph paired with the snow could create whiteout conditions in those parts of New England, Roth said. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker asked people to stay off the roads, if possible, throughout Monday, and Boston public schools were closed.
Twelve miles south of Boston, streets in the coastal city of Quincy were flooding, and police warned residents to drive cautiously.
Almost 350 arrivals and departures had been canceled at Boston's Logan International Airport by 7 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, much of New Hampshire, which has its presidential primaries Tuesday, was under a winter weather advisory through at dawn Tuesday. The National Weather Service predicted that 6 to 8 inches of "very dry, fluffy snow," likely ending before 6 a.m.
The storm was also bearing down on Connecticut, where a charter bus on its way to the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville flipped over on a snowy Interstate 95 in Madison.
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Authorities said 37 people were injured, four of them critically.
New York City can expect 1 to 2 inches of snow Tuesday, and the same amount will fall in parts of New Jersey. But it's eastern Long Island that will get the brunt of the storm — with up to half a foot of snow and 30-mph winds — because the unique system is approaching from the Atlantic, according to meteorologists at NBC New York.
The storm is expected to pass through by Tuesday, but the eastern part of the country can expect well-below-average temperatures to follow. Temperatures could stay below freezing as far south as northern Alabama and Georgia, Roth said.
Meanwhile, a second storm over the Northern Plains led the National Weather Service to issue blizzard warnings in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Surrounding areas, stretching up to North Dakota, were under winter weather advisories Monday.
