as predicted, the blizzard of 2015 walloping many places in the northeast. big problems at this hour. it is 4:00 a.m. local time where we're watching. seven states affected by the blizzard of 2015. tens of millions along the northeast corridor, bracing for even more snow. we've not hit the peak yet. seeing hurricane-force winds. and the streets closed off in the busiest city of the country. you cannot get anywhere. here in new york city you've seen more than five inches of snow even before the snow

started to accumulate. the city that never sleeps it's sleeping. the travel ban in new york city which began at 11:00 last night. we're into our fifth hour of that. it remains in effect for nonemergency vehicles. and you can forget about trying to get around on the subway. service has been suspended for further notice. we're keeping an eye on that. the governor makes that decision. we'll be listening to the governor. we expect to hear from him at 8:00 a.m. restrictions on nonessential travel in effect in massachusetts, connecticut and rhode island. air travel also coming to a crawl. at least 7,000 flights into and out of the region have been canceled. service on commuter rails like amtrak, also suspended. it's not just the record snowfall that's set to wreak havoc. high tide is rolling in along the massachusetts coast. and coastal flooding is expected. the new jersey shore could see a storm surge, flooding and beach erosion, as well.

just was looking at this from the national weather service. they tweeted this out. the national weather service in boston saying three-plus foot surges already. you were just telling me we're about to hit high tide. we haven't hit that yet. >> the waves are coming over. this is something that was expected. it's not a surprise. it is certainly going to be a long high tide. a long hour for the folks in massachusetts. and it's not only the south shore. even winthrop on the north shore of boston they're seeing water coming over the seawall. so, it is going to be a long couple of hours for along the coast in boston and through massachusetts along the cape. they're looking at heavy snow, blizzard conditions. it is really ramping up there. the blizzard warning continues. the focus, really has become new england because they are getting pounded with this storm. new york is getting, certainly,

some weather, in dangerous conditions all the way down to d.c. you can see the visibility is compromised for everybody up and down the east coast. but the heaviest snow right now is concentrated through new england. and that's where we're seeing the worst conditions and blizzard conditions in many cases. want to show you the wind. 61 for the wind gusts right now in province town. 68 in nantucket. the highest wind gust was after 2:00 in the morning. that was 72 miles per hour. that's near hurricane force winds. it is very cold here. we have the cold continuing. and we're seeing new bands, now, that are coming off the cape and the islands that are going to push into eastern massachusetts. snowfall rates are going to be two to three inches per hour as that comes off the cape. that is going to add to what we're already seeing in some cases, over seven inches of snow. that's coming down through parts of massachusetts. that's going to add to it.

and with the wind out there in those heavy bands that are going to be moving through in the next hour or so that is going to make conditions worse. new england, with high tide all of the coastal areas, we're going to keep our eyes on. new england is getting it the worst out of everybody. >> she's going to be with us all hour watching the developments. let's get over to nbc news' john yang live in portland maine. we've seen some good weather for you. and you are rosieeyrosy-cheeked and rosey-nosed. >> the temperature has been falling since we got down here. it's 9 degrees. the wind is gusting about 25 miles per hour. the snow has picked up. but this storm is still building

here. we have yet to hit the really heavy snowfall. right now, just about a dusting of new snow on the ground right now. in the next couple of hours, expected to build until it's falling at a rate of one to two inches an hour. expected to keep that up all during the daylight hours today. start tapering off tonight before ending finally, on wednesday, according to the forecasters. the one bit of good news, you're talking about the storm surge in boston. the peak of the storm here will be at low tide. so they're expecting only minor flooding and beach erosion. already, they've canceled school for today. there's a parking ban into wednesday, to help snowplows get through and clear the streets. they are bracing and building for the worst of it here in portland, richard. >> john there are several levels of snow heavy, light, as

meteorologists know. what's the type of snow you're seeing at this hour? and how has it changed, if at all, over the hours you've been reporting so far today? >> it's all night it has been this very light, almost like pellets rather than big, fluffy flakes. when the wind blows and hits me in the face you can sort of feel the sting and these little almost -- as i say, ice pellets, rather than big, fluffy flakes. that's also going to cause a problem because of all of the wind this snow is blowing. it's going to drift. it's going to blow. it's going to cut down on visibility which is one reason they're asking people to stay off the roads. >> you know, john you're no stranger to this sort of weather. not that you like it necessarily. but you live in chicago. we know how the windy city can have tough storms.

how does this compare now that you're in maine. >> this feels a little like last winter in chicago. it's been a relatively dry and comparatively mild -- milder. we've had some cold stretches in chicago. you don't get the same sustained winds. the sort of classic nor'easter moving up the coast, with the winds blowing off the ocean for this. as strong as they're forecast to be here and for as long as they're forecast to be here. >> john we've been watching some vehicles behind you. as you and i both know as we're covering the story over the next 24 hours, we're watching very closely the number of city vehicles that are out there. that gives an indication of how things are getting worse or better. what are you seeing at the live location? >> there hasn't been a lot of

traffic. the number of -- a number of people who have driven by have been wearing protective safety vests. you know the fluorescent green safety vests that suggested to me they were emergency workers or workers on their way to work. we're standing outside our nbc affiliate in portland, wcsh channel 6. and the only foot traffic are people going into work. people don't seem to be out to be looking at seeing what's going on. the streets are empty right now. the most traffic we've seen have been snowplows getting a jump start in this. and laying down chemicals, salt to try to get a head start on melting all of this. >> we want some activity around us as we have live shots. but in this particular situation, john yang we're happy there's no people on the

streets because that means good safety. we want people at home. that's what all of the government officials are telling folks to do. john yang live for us in maine. looks like a chilly place out there. thanks so much. we'll be talking to you later. thank you so much. live for us, betty nguyen at 30 rockefeller center where it is -- >> where am i? that's the question right? >> are you outside in the plaza. >> i'm outside, kind of, sort of. what i've done was something you didn't do, was enter into this ice house tent-like area. this is where the crew is holing up and staying warm as the snow has been falling all night long. it's hitting us in the face and coming down. it would start. it would stop. it would start up with intensity again. and right now, we're getting a little bit of that. you talked earlier, richard, about the ice rink. we're in front of the famous ice rink at rockefeller plaza. and you just missed them.

the snowplows were out. we had the zamboni on the ice rink. you look it didn't look like they made much progress. the snow keeps falling. i mean, it's been going for a good couple hours now. and no breaks in between. but i have seen several snowplows out here. if you look a little closer up to 30 rock maybe you can see them. there's two or three in front of the building that keep going back and forth and on the side streets. what i'm gathering since you were out here earlier and we didn't see too much action with the snowplows that as we get closer to the daylight hours, we're starting to see more and more plows on the streets. just in case people start getting up and about and maybe at 8:00 when the governor of new york has that press conference and does decide to lift the travel ban, perhaps we'll see more vehicles on the streets. we'll see the subways open again. the buses back in business because a lot of people even though it's a snow day, for

people like us it's still a work day. >> snow day equals work day for you and me. >> a big work day. >> betty nguyen, live in the middle of manhattan. 30 rockefeller plaza. thank you so much. connecticut, a state we've been watching. it isn't necessarily the headliner. you heard about new york city. you've heard about boston. we just had a live report from maine. connecticut is one state that we're watching very carefully because the national weather service saying they have a blizzard warning up until 1:00 a.m. wednesday. that's almost another 24 hours from now. connecticut, certainly a state that is being hit by the blizzard of 2015. it's one of three states where the travel ban is in effect right now. and watching that is lieutenant jay paul vance. he's a spokesperson for the connecticut state police. lieutenant vance, what are you seeing on the roads? and how dangerous are the driving conditions there?

>> it's critical right now. the roads in connecticut, the highways secondary roads are snow-covered. i have to tell you that the public in general is minding the ban, which is extremely important because the conditions out here are extremely dangerous out here. as the snow continues to fall and adds to the danger that we're existing out here. >> lieutenant vance, as i was mentioning, 45 minutes ago, the national weather service issued its warning. they look at the data so well. and again, that blizzard warning in many places of connecticut remaining in effect for the next 24 hours. when do you decide when to lift that ban based on this information that we're getting? looks like you have 24 hours of a blizzard warning at this moment. >> it's important to understand the emergency operation center where the governor and all of the leaders of state government and state officials are, will

make that determination. frankly, just from my perspective, i don't see it being lifted right away. it's important we recognize the danger here. and people stay off the road here in the state of connecticut. also take into consideration we understand that there is some movement that's got to take place with medical supplies and such that need to come into our state and through our state. and snow removal. other emergency situations. that's recognized and understood. if we complicate the issue with much more volume than that it's really going to be critical and dangerous for everyone. >> lieutenant vance, as you know so well i've got family members that work in -- for city governments that do this. and i'm sure many friends that you've got that are now working these late hours. working these overtime hours to keep the roads safe. what are they telling you in terms of what they are seeing as

they are trying to spread the salt, flow, what have you? >> our hats off to them because they have been going since the storm began. it's going to go a significant amount of time thereafter. it's frustrating for them as the volume of snow seems to fill in the void that they make when they make a pass and remove some of that snow. it just is very very difficult work for the men and women in the highway departments, in the municipalities as well as our d.o.t. personnel. we have troopers out there that are trying to ensure that no one is disabled. there's no vehicles in their way. and we're doing our best to try to keep the highways and roadways clear for them so they can continue to do the work uninterrupted. >> one of the pieces of data

here, winds are expected to gus up to 40 miles per hour. when we talk about blizzard level, that's over 35 miles per hour sustained. but with the high winds, there is the concern of being able to service downed electrical lines. and the ability of those service crews to get out there, depending on the utility. they set that limit at 30 miles per hour or 40 miles per hour before they say we cannot service the electrical lines. how are utilities doing? how are the -- the rest of the pieces of infrastructure other than the roads doing, from what you're hearing? >> it's important that we recognize under the leadership of governor malloy the utility companies here in our state really stage their personnel throughout the state in preparation to handle any issues relative to power loss. you know there has been a little bit of power loss. but not a significant amount at this point in time. and that certainly is extreme

danger, also. as you alluded to they can't work in high winds. i believe it's 30 miles per hour or 40 miles per hour. >> it depends, right. >> that's an issue. but certainly also is an issue is the fact that the bitter cold that exists with this storm, the continuous high winds and some coastal flooding you know has been forecast or predicted, we have all of those things that enter into the equation as this storm continues. >> again, the national weather service saying 12 to 18 inches so far accumulations in some parts of connecticut. and so it is still rough going at this hour. and so thank you so much, lieutenant vance. i know you have a long day ahead of you. >> we'll work together. and we just encourage everyone to continue listening to the broadcast and the information that we try to give out. we'll try to keep everyone informed completely. >> thanks for taking a step aside to talk to us this hour.

lieutenant vance of the connecticut state police spokesperson for them. straight ahead, the weather channel's mike seidel is in the thick of whiteout conditions. all of this. he's in massachusetts by the coastline. high tide is having a massive impact up and down the east coast. msnbc has special coverage and the rest of the blizzard of 2015.

with all of the snow that's falling, road salt's needed.

and by the tons. it's being spread as fast as trucks can pick it up and drop it across the region. how effective is it at the temperature as it gets cold into the teens. jane tim is at the depot of sanitation, road salt storage facility. that's the question. we hit the teens. and the big brains shall we say, estimate between 10 and 15 degrees, salt doesn't work, as well, at least. >> yeah. yeah. early this morning, we got here around 2:00 we didn't see nearly any salt trucks going up and down. it was strictly plows. we've seen a few more. that makes me start to think they're preparing for when it gets warmer in the coming hours to get the salt trucks out. right behind me you can see how much salt the city has to arm itself against the storm. this is a salt storage facility.

it's about 80 paces down. it's 15 20 more feet of salt. there is a whole lot they have. and the trucks can carry about 16 tons of it at a time. yesterday, they were everywhere. this morning, primarily plows. there can be up to 1,800 plows in the city at any time. and the city's data are getting most streets. they're sticking to the big highways and the avenues. the side streets tend to be the second priority. even though they're passing through the avenues, they're not clearing everything. there's a couple of inches of muck that the plows are having trouble picking up. they're going again and again as the snow keeps coming down to get it off the streets so when it warms up they can salt. >> we expect to hit the 20s in a couple of hours. maybe that will give them the

impetus to get out there. every person in the northeast, whether if they're awake right now, they are asking this question. they are going, when are they going to hit my street? when are they going to take care of where i want to go? how do they decide that in the terms of the paths and the roads they decide to either plow or either lay salt? >> our sources in sanitation say west side highways the major avenues they can get as much as possible, those are the priorities. the side streets, the numbered streets, those are a lot less. it looks like they're going down the streets. when we see the big parades of six plow trucks getting -- taking a big sweep at one of the avenues, it tends to be the big ones. not the little ones it's the west side highway first. >> and i believe there's an app out there that you can use to determine where the trucks are going, which is pretty

interesting within itself. jane timm thank you so much. at the salt depot, an important place that a lot of trucks are going to. that will be the source of cleaning up the streets of new york city. thank you so much. let's move from you over to nbc's chris palone. you took a little nap. maybe it looks different. what are you seeing? >> richard, a big change ever since we left here a little after 10:00, 10:30 last night. now, out 3:30 this morning. in the span of the four to five hours, certainly a lot more snow has fallen. the snow has intensified. and the winds have picked up as well. the snow is coming sideways at times. we're getting good gusts here. you can see all over the city of boston, as we were driving here there are places where the wind has cleared the snow off the

ground. it's not that a plow has gone through there. it's that the snow is drifting. and plows are going through. they're plowing streets. and a few minutes later, they're back to being snow-covered. in various parts, it looks like it's anywhere from six inches to eight, nine inches of snowfall. and in other places, the ground is bare. we have to look at the national weather service measurements to see how much has fallen here. massachusetts is basically shut down at this point. the only vehicles that are going by i've seen so far, emergency vehicles and plows. and that's what officials here wanted. a travel ban went into effect at midnight here in massachusetts. everybody who doesn't have a legitimate reason to be on the road has to be at home. the big problem overnight was along the coast. that's where the storm started coming in first. and winds were gusting. nantucket had a wind over 60 65 miles per hour. that's approaching hurricane

strength obviously. we won't know what's going on in nantucket for a little while because the ferry service has been shut down for the time being. but here in boston wind gusts, even late last night were reaching 30 miles per hour. high tide is coming in right now. that means that places like the south shore, plymouth plum island, new report could be seeing some storm surge. and officials in the town took the unusual step to cutting the power to about five streets. and 10:00 last night, their fear is that if water got to some of the homes, it would cause a fire that could take out an entire neighborhood. >> ten worst is ahead there. the national weather service not more than 40 minutes ago, giving in their latest alert, a coastal flood warning. that's the concern as we go forward. they'll be hitting the high tide, as well. chris pollone in massachusetts. stand by. we'll be talking to you again in the next couple hours.

still ahead, talking about the concern of floods. straight to rhode island. the mayor there, still bracing for the worst, flooding included.

with the blizzard of 2015 we continue to watch the latest

information coming into us at ms nbc. we're hearing from a couple of utilities this half hour. a total of 5,627 people without power at the moment in massachusetts. we're hearing from two different utilities, divide up national grid north star saying 4139. 5,600 people. the wind gusts too high for the utility workers to get there and fix the power line. not too far away, rhode island among several states to declare a state of emergency. i want to go straight there. it may be 4:31 local time. just beginning for rhode island. on the phone, the mayor of warrick, rhode island. what are your crewing seeing on the road right now? your concern is that certainly the worst is yet to come in the next eight hours.

>> that's correct, richard. our roads are passable at the moment we're concerned about drifting. storm surge. we have a lot of snow that hasn't fallen yet. we have a full day ahead of us. fortunately, the crews worked well all day yesterday and through the night. and all of the roads are passable at this point. and we have few customers that suffered from any power outage. >> that's good based on the report i just gave what's happening in our neighbor, massachusetts. >> this is an interesting piece of information. i was just looking at the national weather service. they come out with the alerts crunching all of the data about all of the states in the northeast. and there's only been one alert. and that alert came out eight minutes ago. for rhode island. eight minutes ago. and it's a blizzard warning. the blizzard warning will remain in effect for basically the next 24 hours.

talking about snow snow accumulations of 15 to 25 inches outside your door. what are you seeing there in warwick warwick? >> all of the roads are passable. we have maybe in some areas four to five inches of snow on the ground. of course, if drifting because of the wind gusts has made it difficult in some areas where it looks like it could be eight or nine inches that accumulated. at this point, it doesn't appear that we have the bulk of the snow down at all yet. so, this is going to be a day where for the next 24 hours, hour crews have to do the same thing they did yesterday. and they will continue to go around and keep clearing to be ready for the bulk of the storm that's not upon us yet. >> when it hits you, we're looking at a report from plymouth, maine. we're going to show that in a second of winds of 60-plus miles

per hour. and that's about to hit where you are at. they expect gusts up to 65 miles per hour, to be hitting your town or towns close to you there in rhode island. how big of a concern, though? in addition to that is high tide. >> unfortunately, people will wake up this morning. they're going to look out there and say it's not as bad as they said it was going to be. and it's okay for me to be able to do whatever i want to do this morning. it will caution people saying the storm hasn't hit its full effect on us yet. let's keep everyone doing what they did yesterday. there's no reason for people to be traveling. the governor set a state of emergency, it is going forth for the time being. when day break comes, people get up. it will be sunny. they'll be looking out and saying, oh it doesn't appear

that it was nearly as bad as they said it was going to be. and we're fearful that people will try to go about their regular day. >> well said mayor scott avedisia. of seven states that have declared state of emergency so far, some may think everything is okay. and no, according to the national weather service we're seeing the next 24 hours in most places that are affected by the blizzard of 2015 there are warnings out there, concerns of high tide. concerns of blizzard. concerns of heavy snow. preparing and warning for the next eight hours, as the peak is expected around noon on tuesday. thank you for your time. that snow is coming down in different areas across the northeast, as i was alluding to. and the wind gusts and those blizzard-like conditions. the weather channel's mike seidel in plymouth massachusetts. there, the snow looks

unbelievable. good morning, mike. >> hours of 35 to 40 sustained. 39 is the threshold for a tropical storm. 64 miles per hour in the past hour. and the end result with this kind of snowfall rate of an inch an hour. and it's impossible to pressure snow out here because, look at this. there's ground. you can see the grass. and there's about a three-foot drift. in the back there, now, that one back there. that has to be about five feet. i will venture out there at some point. i may need a rope to get me pulled out of there. but the winds coming off the north atlantic. and what we're seeing as we approach high tide in the next hour or so out here is overwash and the wave action in plymouth harbor harbor. it's a big square parking lot. it's now completely under water. i can see that the whole parking lot has water in it.

in fact, my producer is over here right now. shooting some of that with our go pro camera. you get a sense of what it's like to be in a blizzard. i checked the observation guys at plymouth. they have not reported visibilities below half a mile. that's amazing. so technically, by definition, at least there, a little inland it hasn't been a blizzard. you need visibility a quarter mile or less. you can't see 150 feet with this wind. let me venture out into the drift again. when i walk i come back a few minutes later. and you can't see my tracks. you know if you're a private detective trying to find me you'd have to be right behind me. the snow just gets right back into the footprint. so, you get a sense of how tall this drift is here. that's a three-footer.

and you get back here boy. this drift back here that's 4 1/2 to five feet. >> mike seidel reporting for us that it's probably going to be this high very shortly. and mike will be in there, no doubt. that report, mike seidel from the weather channel. a lot is changing in the last hour. we have new snow totals for you across the region. we will get the latest from amtrak, as many individuals from the northeast are trying to make it from point "a" to point "b."

we're basically about 14 hours into this storm. 12, 14 depending on when you said go. and the number of reports we've seen on snow totals have evolved. and they're higher of course than at any point in the storm so far. doing all of the calculations. and the one part we're just speaking with somebody from

connecticut. that was lieutenant vance, who was reporting for us about the road conditions. and look at the numbers that you're about to tell us. connecticut with such high numbers when it comes to snow totals. >> yeah. this is the jackpot right now. 16.2. that's over a foot. i shouldn't be surprised if they are at a foot now because this report is about an hour old. and the snow's coming down at a good clip. we're getting a swath that's moving through new england that is carrying very heavy bands of snow. that's what we've been seeing for the past several hours as they're facing blizzard conditions. not so impressive in central park. but we still have more snow to come. so, just keep that in mind. the snow is not over. blizzard warning in effect for new york all the way up to bangor maine. this is note-worthy. and we did get rid of the

blizzard warning for coastal new jersey. not looking at the conditions anymore. but we have a winter weather warning. it is a situation where you need to take caution if you're headed out on the roads. take it slow. we're not looking at blizzard conditions down to the south. here's a look at the visibility. it is still compromised from boston all the way down to new york. it is barely a mile. winds are gusting over 60 miles per hour especially the closer to the cape you get. and the windchills are extremely cold. minus 5 in boston. minus one in hartford. the mass pike two to three inches. we'll see the snow totals go up fast and furious, richard. >> we have to remind the viewers that this is the hot spot. it was this time from late monday evening to early morning in the northeast. right in the middle of that. rhode island is a good example

of where the worst is yet to come. and giving us some of the snow totals so far. thank you. amtrak service is a part of what's being affected by the snow totals up and down the northeast corridor. it remains suspended, all of the service this morning. on the phone with me right now is the director of media relations for amtrak. steve, as you go through that tough decision when do you resume service based on the information that you're getting in? in some cases, the worst is yet to come. in some cases, we're seeing an ebb in the storm hitting. >> absolutely. the storm's not over. we're going to continue to monitor it. we have employees staffed at key locations to check out and assess damage and tree-clearing that might need to be done. we have operating trains south of new york. new york to washington we're operating. new york from harrisburg pennsylvania.

>> is that new this hour? >> at this hour we are. amtrak service is canceled suspended north of new york up to boston and out to albany. >> and the service south of new york was it previously suspended and you just resumed service south of new york? >> no. it had been reduced schedule. we were running fewer trains. but we were running trains out of new york. >> now, at full schedule south of new york? >> no. still on the reduced schedule. but we are operating new york to washington. >> okay. i just want to share with you, as well as our viewers, we're getting the latest snow accumulations from certain areas from the weather channel. the new york city area central park 7 1/2 to 8 inches as much as three more inches. long island 17 inches of snow so far. another three to five inches expected there. they could hit, you know, 22 inches possibly. we have hartford connecticut.

up to ten inches more. providence rhode island expecting ten inches more and seven to eight inches down. and this is part of your calculation, isn't it, as you go through this steve. what do you expect to see north of new york over the next 24 hours. and how are you planning to service the tracks. when it's ready to say go all of that snow that may be on the tracks has been plowed. >> as i said we have prepositioned employees, maintenance equipment, and extra tree trimmers on contract and ready to go. we'll get out there when the storm eases, make an assess to what's out there, if there are tree limbs in the wires or on the tracks. importantly, north to new york amtrak doesn't own all of the tracks. metro north railroad controls from new rochelle to new haven. so long as they are shut down

we are shut down north of new york. so, we obviously work together to coordinate things as best we can so services can get up and running. >> steve thank you so much. a lot of folks going to be listening to what you have to say, as they try to get from point "a" to point "b." john yang driving the storm. getting stronger every moment in portland maine. you're far north if i were to talk about a point "b" john. >> that's right, richard. what you're talking about in new york and especially in massachusetts, on its way here at wcsh a band of about two to three -- a band of snow falling at a rate of about two to three inches is about to move off on shore from the ocean. so, it's going to get a lot worse here in the next couple of hours. the conditions have been relatively stable with this --

what you're seeing, this heavy -- relatively heavy snow. there's officially a tenth of an inch that's fallen since midnight. that's going to pick up during the daylight hours. heavy, strong winds throughout the daylight hours today. into tonight, tapering off tonight before ending tomorrow morning. they are predicting anywhere between 18 and 24 inches of snow here. not quite a record. the record is about 32 inches. that fell in february of 2013. but they're still preparing for the big storm here. parking bans in effect until wednesday to get the snowplows through. schools are closed. government offices are closed. just a few seconds ago on this street in downtown portland, i saw a cab stop and two or three people got out of -- came out of an apartment building and got

in. i don't know if they're going to work or what work they would be going to that what would be open at this hour. but that's about the most activity we've seen here other than snowplows and trucks spreading salt and chemicals on the streets, richard. >> they were probably journalists, john. they were probably -- that's what they were doing out there. >> that's it. and, john yang it is so cold and windy. right in the middle of the blizzard warning. that warning coming out seven minutes ago from the national weather service saying you're going to be under the blizzard warning for the next 24 hours. so cold so windy, it's tough to talk. i know it is out there for you, as you're live and reporting in portland maine. we'll talk to you later with the latest as it starts to pick up there. folks are just joining us. a little more windy and snow in the sky. live out to the plaza here at 30 rockefeller. where betty nguyen is trying to keep warm.

the big concern in new york city was the amount of snow that was going to hit manhattan. why? because as they look at the amount of people that work here and the output -- and i've said this throughout the last couple hours, working with betty nguyen

out on the plaza right now and reporting for us. what's at risk here? we look at the m.t. and the subways closed down is one of the city itself is larger than five or ten countries around the world. >> isn't that incredible? >> one day that the city that closes down what is at risk is $3.5 billion gdp. that's huge. >> it is huge. people are watching to see what the governor has to say at 8:00 this morning when he holds his news conference. a lot of people do want to get back to work to get this city back and moving. and speaking of the city and to be honest with you, richard, i was feeling sorry for you out in this cold weather all night long while i was in the warm studio. now that i'm out here not only is it colder but the snow is coming down harder and the winds have whipped up. much more so than when you were out here. i'm getting the brunt of it. >> well yeah. i was wearing my summer shorts

is what you were saying when i was out there with the 12-degree weather. yeah. exactly. >> i'm sure you walk to work as well. you mentioned earlier about what seven inches of snow in central park. that makes a lot of sense. if you look here on this little ledge. this snow hasn't been coming down straight. it's been coming down all different angles. and we have five or six inches of snow. and this is the really dry, fluffy stuff. not good for making snowmen or anything like that. but the good news is people are able to get it off the streets. we've seen several snowplows. got about four going right now. a city plow going through the streets. if you're hearing people say they haven't gotten to my street yet, they are on the roadways. it's a matter of time before they get to your area. >> they look at the snowplows out there, it's the salt and whether it will work at this temperature. if it's too cold and too dry, it

doesn't. >> it doesn't work at all. that's why they have the plows out. i haven't seen a salt truck on the road. but i've seen snowplows. they have run nonstop around 30 rock here. and right here the ice skating rink they have been plowing that and using the zamboni. as the snow sets on it too long, it can ruin the surface of the ice rink. there's a lot going on to protect the city as the blizzard keeps barreling through. >> betty, it's been a pleasure. covering the blizzard of 2015. >> now, i'm headed back in. >> thank you, bet ty nguyen at 30 rockefeller plaza with the latest. there's a lot to watch in the coming hours. we've got connecticut, which is expected to get more snow. already has 16 inches on the ground. we're looking at maine with a blizzard warning. rhode island that over the next eight hours could see a flood surge and more snow yet to come. we'll have all the latest here on msnbc. stay with us. "way too early" starts in three.

. seven states are in a state of emergency and travel bans are in effect for much of the northeast. now, we have got snow and high winds expected to reach the massachusetts coastline. but if you're having to walk to work in new york today, like most people are, be ready to bundle up because it is cold. you're going to need a hat. you're going to need a scarf. and you're definitely going to need your boots. this is "way too early."