East Coast Snow Storm

Photo: AP

Winter storm forecast to wallop East by Friday - A potent winter storm is forecast to bring heavy snow and howling winds to the East Coast on Friday and Saturday, potentially closing roads and schools, canceling flights and causing power outages.

The metro areas in and around Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston could all see heavy snow from the storm, according to AccuWeather.

As much as 1 to 2 feet of snow is possible near and northwest of I-95, the National Weather Service said.

Blizzard conditions are possible, meaning winds of 35 mph and visibility of only a quarter-mile for at least three hours.

It could be the first storm in 13 years to dump a foot of snow on the entire Northeast megalopolis, Weather.com reported. More than 50 million people could be affected by snowfall heavy enough to disrupt travel by road, rail and air.

Along the coast, high winds and pounding surf could lead to beach erosion, according to WeatherBell meteorologist Ryan Maue. The full moon will exacerbate the chance of coastal flooding as tides will be higher than average. The areas at greatest risk for coastal flooding and beach erosion are in New Jersey, Long Island and southern New England.

In the Deep South and Southeast, heavy rain, freezing rain and severe thunderstorms are possible Thursday.

The Weather Channel named the storm Jonas.

Ahead of the storm, ferocious cold kept most of the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in a deep freeze Tuesday. Temperatures remained in the single digits and teens across much of those three regions, with wind chill values below zero in many places, the weather service said.