Historic Bad Weather Shuts Down New York, Most of North East

Be safe people, this #blizzardof2015 is looking to be worse than I was thinking. Authorities are warning people on the northeast to stay indoors for most of tomorrow and next.

 New York Mayor Bill de Blasio warns,

"... people have to be very, very careful. People have to stay off the streets and stay off the sidewalks."

Via CNN - 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.

Photo - Twitter/Michael Rusch