A blizzard is hammering the East Coast, bringing a mix of heavy snow and strong winds and the potential for record amounts of snowfall.
Driving the news: The storm is bringing "extreme" snowfall rates of two to three inches per hour across southern New England, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) Boston office.
Blizzard warnings are in effect for 11 million people from coastal Virginia to eastern Maine as a historic winter storm is set to slam the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast beginning Friday.
Why it matters: The storm will bring hazards ranging from zero visibility amid hurricane force wind gusts and heavy snow, to coastal flooding that will erode vulnerable beaches and threaten property from the Jersey shore to coastal Massachusetts.
