An enormous storm developed Friday in the Gulf of Mexico and took aim for much of eastern North America. It threatened to cause blizzard conditions from Georgia to the Canadian Maritimes, batter vulnerable coastline with hurricane-force winds and flooding and freeze crops in the South.
"This could be the worst storm of the century," the National Weather Service in Philadelphia said in one of a series of blizzard warnings posted from North Carolina to Maine, including Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; New York; and Boston."We're not crying wolf this time. It's really coming," said Brenda Page, a Weather Service meteorologist in Huntsville, Ala.
Snow began accumulating in northern Alabama and spread as far north as Virginia by Friday evening. High winds drove water over a seawall along Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain, forcing closure of a highway. Sustained winds of 62 mph with gusts to 80 mph - 74 mph is hurricane force - were recorded in the Gulf.
In south Florida, authorities moved 60 people from a tent city erected in Naranja for victims of last year's Hurricane Andrew to a high school as a precaution. A tornado watch was issued Friday night for all of Florida except the extreme northwestern region.
In northern New York, homeless shelters filled up by midafternoon. Up and down the coast people stocked up on groceries, batteries, gas and other supplies.
Terry Collins said customers were emptying his Super Fresh food store in Westminster, Md., of bread and milk. "Of course I think they have a good reason to be scared this time," he said.
Forecasters said snow accumulations in the hardest-hit areas could be measured in feet, not inches. Blizzard conditions include sustained wind of at least 35 mph, heavy snow and visibility near zero.
The storm was gathering on the anniversary of one of the worst storms on record in the East, the Blizzard of 1888, which dumped up to 5 feet of snow on March 12 and 13 of that year.
The Weather Service said hurricane-force winds, waves to 25 feet and tides as much as 6 feet above normal would cause major flooding and severe beach erosion along the Atlantic Coast from the Carolinas north; gales and seas to 18 feet were forecast down to northern Florida and along the Gulf Coast.
The mid-Atlantic and Northeast coastline was especially susceptible because many dunes were flattened and barrier beach islands were breached by a powerful Nor'easter in December and severe storms since.