Winter Storm Neptune headed straight for Boston this Valentine’s Day weekend is predicted to hit the city with the force of a Category 2 hurricane, as if Massachusetts hasn’t suffered enough this winter season.
Mashable climate reporter explains,
"With roaring, frigid winds, heavy snow and pounding surf, [the storm] will be so strong that it can be compared in some ways to a Category 2 hurricane."
"Depending on the storm's exact track, it could dump a foot or more of additional snow in the Boston area, with even more snow in coastal New Hampshire and Maine."
Bostonians won't be the only ones feeling the wrath of the storm.
Residents of the eastern Great Lakes will experience the worst of the wind chills, The Weather Channel predicts, where “feels like” temperatures will plummet to as much as 20 to 30 degrees below zero.
“Exposure to wind chill values of this magnitude for greater than 30 minutes will produce the risk of frostbite as well as hypothermia,” The Weather Channel forewarns.
With powerful wind gusts on the way, not only the Northeast but also the Mid-Atlantic are on high alert for possible power outages, structural damage, debilitating wind chills, downed trees and powerlines.
“Wind gusts will reach at least 50 mph from most of Maine south into Boston as well as Atlantic City, Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, D.C.,” reports The Weather Channel.
Cities on the coast such as Nantucket, Cape Cod, and Provincetown may face wind gusts as strong as 75 mph as the storm progresses Saturday night through Sunday afternoon.
Blizzard or “white out” conditions are likely.
Just in: While the winds will diminish in intensity as the storm moves away from its focal point in the Northeast, some southern cities could be seeing snow and ice on Monday and Tuesday.
Brace yourselves, folks!