Publication Date January 21, 2016 | Mashable

East Coast forecast: Blinding snow, near-hurricane force winds, coastal floods

United States
Simulated winds from the storm, based solely on GFS model projections. Image: Earth Simulator
Simulated winds from the storm, based solely on GFS model projections. Image: Earth Simulator

About 50 million people from the Appalachians to New York City are facing the likelihood of a crippling, life-threatening blizzard beginning on Friday and lasting through early Sunday. This would be the biggest winter storm of the season so far (named "Jonas" by The Weather Channel), providing a rude awakening to a region that saw a record warm December and hardly any snow at all so far this winter.