Updated at 3:10 p.m. ET
A winter storm that has already dumped up to 8 inches of snow in parts of Michigan is set to bring blizzard conditions to much of the Northeast this weekend.
According to , brutal winds, bitterly cold temperatures and lots of snow along the Eastern Seaboard from Long Island to Maine. New York and Philadelphia are among the cities under winter weather advisories.
The National Weather Service says that in parts of Maine, "the combination of heavy snow and strong winds will lead to blizzard conditions." According to the NWS the area should brace for wind gusts of 50 mph or more. The European model is forecasting even higher winds on Cape Cod, with gusts as high as 90 mph and 100 mph near Maine's southern coast.
Bangor could get 5 inches tonight and another 8 inches on Sunday. Member station WBUR reports that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has declared a snow emergency and parking ban beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
As The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang notes:
"Models are forecasting the weekend blizzard to be a meteorological bomb, rapidly intensifying off the coast and dropping over 30 millibars in 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday evening. On Sunday afternoon, the storm's pressure could push below 970 mb — an intensity typical of a category 2 hurricane.
"Moderate, seemingly tranquil snow will begin across New England on Saturday afternoon and last through the evening. By midnight the storm will really start to crank up as it interacts with the warm energy of the coastal Atlantic and intensifies significantly. Come Sunday morning, the storm will be in full, raging blizzard mode across coastal New England."
The Two-Way's Eyder Peralta reported on Friday, there just seems to be no end in sight for the Northeast: "Boston, for example, has already seen the snowiest February on record after a parade of three storms dumped more than three feet of snow."
WCVB in Boston reports that restaurants are likely to be hard-hit by the Valentine's Day storm. Chef/owner Keith Pooler at Bergamot Restaurant in Somerville tells WCVB he's concerned that the snow might deter customers.
"When we started reservations, we were ahead. We had a waiting list," he said of the normal Valentine's Day pre-bookings. "We went through the waiting list and now we have available tables."
All the snow on the ground already in hard-hit states such as Massachusetts has frayed drivers' nerves to the breaking point.
The Boston Globe spoke with former NPR Car Talk host Ray Magliozzi who complained about the "huge piles [of snow] at every corner so you can't see" in his fair city, Cambridge.
The Globe says:
"Magliozzi thought he left plenty of time to get to a recent physical therapy appointment at Massachusetts General Hospital. He lives in Cambridge, he said, and he could just about hit MGH with a stone. He left the house at quarter to four.
"'At 5:30, I abandoned ship,' he said. He told the guys at his shop in Cambridge he would be e-mailing in the brake jobs from then on.
"'I've been humbled,' he said. 'Until further notice, everyone is going to be late for everything.'"
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