More than 1,000 flights were canceled, long lines formed at grocery stores and shovels were hard to find Thursday ahead of a potentially crippling snowstorm that threatened to slam the South, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through the weekend.

We all remember the major snowstorm here in Michigan back in 1978.  Who could forget it, 36 inches of snow fell during that huge snowstorm.   All schools were closed for several days.  Basically, everything was closed.   I worked at Meijer on S.  Pennsylvania as a bagger.   Several of us had to get on the roof of the building and shovel snow because the weight of all that snow could have collapsed the roof.

That was then, and this is now where snowfall could approach 2 feet or more in some locations, including the Baltimore and Washington metro areas, where a rare blizzard warning will go into effect sometime this afternoon.

Heavy snow and blowing snow will cause dangerous conditions and will be a threat to life and property, according to the National Weather Service.

In Washington, the city's entire rail and bus system will be closed Saturday and Sunday.  At least 30 million people live in blizzard warning and watch areas, which encompass all of the Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City metro areas.  Winds will gust up to 55

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