Only months after getting pummeled by a hurricane so bad that experts decided to call it a "Super Storm", the northeast is now bracing for a blizzard that is projected to be as bad or worse than the historic 1978 winter storm that turned the region into a frozen tundra. Meteorologists project as much as two feet of snow to fall from sometime Friday into Saturday morning which could cripple some neighborhoods in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey that are just beginning to rebuild from Hurricane Sandy's aftermath.
Already, counties in southern New England, which is expected to get the brunt of the storm, are under a blizzard watch. In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg announced today that the city's sanitation department is on standby with roughly 250,000 tons of salt, ABC News reports.
The National Weather Service in Massachusetts expects the storm to be one of the worst in New England's history and potentially on par with the 1978 storm that coincidentally fell on February 5 through the 7. That record breaking storm showered the region with 27-inches of snow, killing an estimated 100 people, and leaving 4,500 people injured. In all, when the devastation was over, an estimated $1.8 billion damage was left behind.
News coverage of the 1978 blizzard can be seen below.
This time around the damage could be much worse. According to NJ.com, coastal communities are not prepared for a high powered storm and the winds that may come along with it.
"Time is starting to work against us...We could see substantial beach erosion. I know people have been working hard, but there's less to erode. We could easily see waves and water coming into areas you typically wouldn't," said National Weather Service meteorologist Gary Szatkowski, who was particuarly concerned about towns that were hit hard by Sandy.
Meteorologits with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, who accurately predicted Hurricane Sandy's landfall a week before it happened, say New Jersey may get as much as a foot of snow.