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. ||||| Story highlights Amtrak shuts down Tuesday service between New York and Boston 
 
 New York mayor: The storm "is about to start in earnest" 
 
 Massachusetts governor: "The best thing anybody can do is stay inside" 
 
 Are you in the storm's path? Please share your images with CNN iReport if you can do so safely. 
 
 (CNN) Snow is falling at a faster rate. Wind gusts are getting stronger. And temperatures are frigid. 
 
 It may not look bad yet, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday night, but it will be soon. 
 
 "This is literally the calm before the storm. It's about to start in earnest," de Blasio said. "And when it does, it's going to come in very fast and very hard, and people have to be very, very careful. People have to stay off the streets and stay off the sidewalks." 
 
 The National Weather Service, which isn't prone to exaggeration, is using terms like "life-threatening" and "historic" to describe the weather system taking aim at the Northeast, with the worst expected to hit Monday night into Tuesday. 
 
 The first big storm of the year may drop up to 3 feet of snow on Boston and New York before it ends Tuesday, with freezing rain and strong wind gusts possibly reaching 70 mph. Blizzard and winter storm warnings have been issued from Maryland through Maine and into Canada. 
 
 Up to 58 million people could be put into the deep freeze. And the storm could have a far-reaching economic and political impact, even beyond the region directly hit. 
 
 The snowfall will be dramatic, but that might not be what causes the most damage, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. 
 
 A possible source of major problems, he said, will be large wind gusts that send tree limbs crashing down into power lines. That could leave people in some area without electricity for days, he said. 
 
 Another area of concern: roads. 
 
 "It is no joke to have people stranded on a highway. We've gone through that before," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters. "It is frightening how quickly a simple trip to the supermarket can wind up being very dangerous." 
 
 Public transportation will shut down and only emergency vehicles will be allowed on the roads in 13 counties -- and on the streets of New York City -- as of 11 p.m., he said. 
 
 Connecticut and Massachusetts also put travel bans in place. 
 
 In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter declared a snow emergency starting at 6 p.m. ET Monday. Cars left parked on snow emergency routes will be towed and owners ticketed, he said. 
 
 "It's going to be the kind of night where the best thing anybody can do is stay inside," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday evening. 
 
 Track the storm 
 
 Here's what you need to know, state-by-state 
 
 Sights and sounds of the blizzard 
 
 Spinning your wheels 
 
 While the worst of the weather isn't expected to hit until late Monday into Tuesday, according to CNN forecasters, it's already snarling travel. 
 
 Nearly 7,000 flights have been canceled for Monday and Tuesday, the flight-tracking website Flightaware.com said. And hundreds of flights have already been canceled for Wednesday as well. 
 
 American Airlines suspended operations in Philadelphia, Boston and New York late Monday afternoon. 
 
 "We plan to resume operations as soon as it is safe to do so," airline spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said. 
 
 United Airlines has already canceled all Tuesday flights at Newark, LaGuardia and JFK, as well as Boston and Philadelphia, company spokeswoman Mary Ryan said. 
 
 Delta has canceled more than 1,600 flights on Monday and Tuesday. There are no operations planned at Boston's Logan International Airport on Tuesday and "very limited flying at LaGuardia and JFK," spokesman Morgan Durrant said. Some cancellations may also be necessary Wednesday morning, he said. 
 
 The major U.S. airlines are offering fee-free rebooking of flights to and from the Northeast on Monday and Tuesday. 
 
 Amtrak said it was operating a normal Monday schedule but suspended Northeast Regional and Acela Express service between New York and Boston for Tuesday because of severe weather. 
 
 Other Amtrak train routes in the region will operate at reduced frequencies, the rail line said. 
 
 Stocking up before the storm 
 
 Heavier snow will hit Monday night and continue through Tuesday, forecasters said. Some areas will still be getting snow Wednesday. 
 
 Officials across the Northeast warned residents to stock up for the storm. 
 
 Tips to prepare for the storm Government officials warned residents to fill up vehicle gas tanks, stock up on food, make sure they have enough heating fuel and to take other steps to prepare for the possibility of being stranded, possibly without power, for days. Here are more tips from the Federal Emergency Management Agency: • Make a family communications plan in case you are separated from your loved ones during the height of the storm. • Make sure to keep ventilation to the outdoors clear when using kerosene heaters. • Put off travel. But if you have to go out, keep a disaster supplies kit in your car. It should include a shovel, windshield scraper, small broom, flashlight, battery-powered radio, extra batteries, food and water, matches, a change of clothes, a pocketknife, a first aid kit and blankets. • Check antifreeze levels, battery condition, exhaust and other vehicle systems before venturing out. • Stay inside as much as possible, stay dry when you do have to go outside, and watch for signs of frostbite and hypothermia, including loss of feeling, uncontrollable shivering and disorientation. 
 
 And they did. 
 
 While shoppers lined up in supermarkets, Dorot, a nonprofit in New York, collected hundreds of bags of food and water supplies for homebound seniors, WCBS reported. 
 
 "I think I'll use some of this, especially the soup," said Norma Amigo, 93, of the Upper West Side. "I will not go out if I think it's slippery out, because I fell two weeks ago." 
 
 Christine Carew, a sales associate at Charles Street Supply in Boston, said customers have been coming into the hardware store since it opened Sunday to grab sleds, shovels, ice melt and snow brushes. 
 
 When it comes to getting ready for a massive snowfall, she said, Boston residents know what to do. 
 
 "We're more prepared for it," she said. "We know it's going to happen." 
 
 In Boston's North End, cigar bar manager David Riccio was sweeping the sidewalk Monday night, preparing for the storm to hit. 
 
 "They're making it sound really bad, so we'll see," he said. 
 
 Fleets of plows and tons of salt 
 
 New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said his force was well-prepared with a fleet of vehicles equipped with tire chains and more large SUVs capable of traversing snowy streets. 
 
 "I want everyone to understand that we are facing -- most likely -- one of the largest snowstorms in the history of this city," de Blasio said. 
 
 Just Watched De Blasio: Don't underestimate this storm replay More Videos ... De Blasio: Don't underestimate this storm 01:09 PLAY VIDEO 
 
 That's saying something. In 2006, 26.9 inches of snow fell, topping the 25.8-inches of snow that fell in December 1947. 
 
 New York state has at least 1,806 plows and more than 126,000 tons of salt to spray onto roads across the region. 
 
 The National Guard also was positioning six dozen personnel and 20 vehicles throughout the state Monday morning. 
 
 .@NWSNewYorkNY Blizzard Warning for NYC, 1PM Mon-12AM Wed morning: 20-30" of snow + wind gusts to 65mph. http://t.co/jsdLTt3RY4 #alert — NYC OEM (@nycoem) January 25, 2015 
 
 In Boston, New England Patriots fans saw their beloved football team off to the Super Bowl at a Monday morning celebration that wrapped up before the storm worsened. 
 
 Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said there was no doubt the city would be slammed, so a major effort now is making sure people are safe. That includes checking on elderly residents and working to get homeless people off the streets and into shelters, he said. 
 
 The city has 700 pieces of snow-moving equipment and 35,000 tons of salt ready, he said. 
 
 "You can't fight Mother Nature, and whatever happens throughout the course of the storm, we just have to do our best to be prepared going into it, which I think we are," Walsh said. 
 
 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Northeast braces for 'historic' storm – People cross a street covered in snow in New York's Times Square during a snowstorm on Monday, January 26. The National Weather Service is using terms like "life-threatening" and "historic" to describe the weather system taking aim at the Northeastern United States. The worst is expected to hit Monday night. Hide Caption 1 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Northeast braces for 'historic' storm – As the snow moves in, residents pick up some last-minute items at King's Highway Stop & Shop in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on January 26. Hide Caption 2 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos People walk near Penn Station on New York's Seventh Avenue while a major snowstorm begins on January 26. Hide Caption 3 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos A tugboat sails on the East River in New York on January 26. Hide Caption 4 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Travelers wait for their train platform to be announced at New York's Penn Station on January 26. Hide Caption 5 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos The New York skyline is seen from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, on January 26. Hide Caption 6 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Snow falls on pedestrians in New York on January 26. Hide Caption 7 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos A plane is de-iced at New York's LaGuardia Airport on January 26. Thousands of flights have already been canceled in anticipation of the storm. Hide Caption 8 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos A man buys a shovel in Winthrop, Massachusetts, on January 26. Hide Caption 9 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Commuters travel across the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge into downtown Boston on January 26. Hide Caption 10 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos A cyclist in New York navigates between parked cars and a sanitation truck with a snow plow on it on January 26. Hide Caption 11 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Passengers talk with a ticket agent at LaGuardia Airport to try to beat the snowstorm on January 26. Hide Caption 12 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos Traffic moves through falling snow near Evans City, Pennsylvania, on January 26. Hide Caption 13 of 14 Northeast braces for 'historic' storm 14 photos A New York City snowplow, loaded with salt, sits in midtown Manhattan as light snow falls on January 26. Hide Caption 14 of 14 EXPAND GALLERY 
 
 Hunkering down 
 
 On Plum Island, Massachusetts, Bob Connors said he'll try to ride out the storm but will move to higher ground if things get dicey, according to CNN affiliate WHDH. A 2013 storm destroyed homes on the island. 
 
 "When you're living on the edge of paradise like we are now, you give Mother Nature a lot of respect when we need to," said Connors. 
 
 Visibility will be a major problem, said CNN meteorologist Judson Jones. 
 
 "This is not one of those storms you want to go out in while it's happening," Jones said. "You want to wait for the winds to die down ... before you go to the store." 
 
 Blizzard Watch issued for RI to be in effect Mon night to Tues night due to predicted snow accumulations of 18-24" http://t.co/v1635ezsLy — Rhode Island EMA (@RhodeIslandEMA) January 25, 2015 
 
 Tuesday is shaping up to be a day when the reality of the weather sets in. 
 
 One of the inevitable aftereffects of snow -- flooding -- will quickly become a problem. 
 
 There could be coastal flooding in Massachusetts starting early Tuesday, with pockets of major flooding on east-facing coastlines, the state emergency agency said. 
 
 "Plan to work from home is the best advice for Tuesday," Jones said.
– 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."