NEW YORK (AP) — Cities and towns along the East Coast scrambled to prepare for a bout with heavy snow and damaging winds after forecasters issued blizzard alerts for communities from Maryland to Massachusetts.

The National Weather Service warned that once the storm intensifies Sunday it could prove significantly more severe than projections made just a few days ago.

The weather service said 1 to 2 feet (about 30 to 61 centimeters) of snow was possible in many areas as it put out blizzard warnings for New York City and Long Island, Boston and coastal communities in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Flooding was also possible in parts of New York and New Jersey, it said.

“While we do get plenty of these nor’easters that produce heavy snow and strong impacts, it’s been several years since we saw one of this magnitude across this large of a region in this very populated part of the country,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the service’s Weather Prediction Center.

Snell said the storm would arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington before stretching toward Philadelphia and New York City and reaching Boston in the evening.

Some of the heaviest snow forecast for overnight Sunday into Monday
The weather service said the storm could begin as rainfall in some places before worsening. Some of the heaviest snow is projected to fall overnight Sunday, with as much as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow per hour at times in some areas, before tapering off by Monday afternoon.

The weather service warned that the storm, with gusts up to 55 mph (80 kph), could cause whiteout conditions that “will make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening. The strong winds and weight of snow on tree limbs may down power lines and could cause sporadic power outages.”

Officials scrambled to prepare for a storm that forecasters days ago believed would have a much more limited impact.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would expand on efforts it used to deal with a major snowfall weeks ago. But officials held off on deciding whether to open schools Monday for the time being. The city hasn’t seen a blizzard in about a decade, he said.

“We saw on Friday there was expectation that the likelihood was that we were going to face maybe 3 to 4 inches of snow. Quickly that then changed,” Mamdani said. “So we want to make sure that we make a decision based on up-to-date and accurate information.”

New York brought in additional snow-clearing equipment from outside the city and planned to increase use of geocoding to keep track of bus stops and crosswalks that need clearing, he said.

Preparations for major snow clearing
With the storm zeroing in, John Berlingieri scrapped plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico to prepare his company, Berrington Snow Management, for what could well be a mammoth task: Clearing snow from millions of square feet of asphalt surrounding shopping malls and industrial parks across Long Island.

Employees spent the last few days recharging batteries on the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow-removal vehicles, before resting up Saturday.

“I’m anticipating at least one week of work around the clock,” Berlingieri said. “We’re going to work 24 to 36 hours straight, sleep for a few hours and then go back.”

The storm approached just as the icy remains of a snowstorm that struck the region weeks earlier were finally melting away.

Officials in Atlantic City, New Jersey, urged residents and casino visitors to stay off the streets, especially in low-lying neighborhoods prone to flooding.

“I could go on and on probably with a good two dozen streets where we know we will get water and there will be snow on top of that,” said Scott Evans, the city’s fire chief and emergency management coordinator. “So you won’t be able to see it until it’s too late. So therefore please stay at home.”

A state of emergency is scheduled to begin at noon Sunday throughout New Jersey, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced. Many churches canceled Sunday services and other activities. To compensate, St. Veronica Parish in Howell, New Jersey, added an extra Mass on Saturday evening.

“Please stay safe, avoid unnecessary travel, and keep one another in prayer during the storm,” the Rev. Peter James Alindogan posted online.