Northeast U.S. Braces For "Crippling And Potentially Historic" Snow Storm

Residents across the northeastern U.S. are girding for a "crippling and potentially historic" storm that could bury communities from northern New Jersey to southern Maine in up to 2 feet of snow or even three feet in some places.

The National Weather Service said the nor'easter would bring heavy snow, powerful winds and widespread coastal flooding starting Monday and through Tuesday. A blizzard warning was issued for a 250-mile stretch of the Northeast, including New York and Boston. Tens of millions of people are in the storm's likely path.

Government officials began to activate emergency centers on Sunday as professional sports teams, schools and utilities hastily revised their schedules and made preparations.

"This could be a storm the likes of which we have never seen before," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference in a Manhattan sanitation garage where workers were preparing plows and salt for the massive cleanup on about 6,000 miles of city roadways for what forecasters said could be up to two feet of snow. Some parts of the metropolitan area could get three feet.

It could be "the biggest snowstorm in the history of this city," de Blasio said. "Don't underestimate this storm," he warned. ... Prepare for something worse than we have seen before. ... Assume conditions will be unsafe."

The last time Manhattan saw two feet of snow was in 2006, notes CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan.

Grocery stores across the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area were swamped with people stocking up ahead of storm, reports CBS New York. Shelves inside many stores across the region were left bare.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker warned residents to prepare for roads that are "very hard, if not impossible, to navigate," power outages and possibly even a lack of public transportation.

Boston is expected to get 18 to 24 inches of snow, with up to 2 feet or more west of the city, and Philadelphia could see up to a foot-and-a-half, the weather service said.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh asked "everyone to be vigilant, stay inside and off the roads or use public transportation when possible, and remember to check on your neighbors." A blizzard warning was to be in effect from 7 p.m. Monday to 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Residents of coastal areas in the region were getting ready, boarding up their homes, packing up their vehicles and putting away loose items, reports CBS Boston. Goods flew off shelves at supermarkets and home improvement stores. "They're buying anything that's not nailed to the shelf right now," said Market Basket employee Mike Dunleavy.

The Washington area expected only a couple of inches, with steadily increasing amounts as the storm heads north.

Airlines prepared to shut down operations along the East Coast. As of 4 a.m. EST Monday, carriers had grounded 1,840 flights for Monday and another 1,652 for Tuesday, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

United Airlines told CBS News early Monday it plans to cancel all flights Tuesday at the three major New York area airports, as well as those into and out of Boston and Philadelphia.

Most major airlines are allowing customers whose flights are canceled in the next few days to book new flights without paying a penalty. Customers ticketed on flights to dozens of Eastern airports are generally eligible for the allowance, though specific terms vary by airline.

A storm system driving out of the Midwest brought several inches of snow to Ohio on Sunday. A new low pressure system was expected to form off the Carolina coast and ultimately spread from the nation's capital to Maine for a "crippling and potentially historic blizzard," the weather service said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged commuters to stay home on Monday and warned that mass transit and roadways could be closed before the evening rush hour, even major highways such as the New York Thruway, Interstate 84 and the Long Island Expressway.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.