. 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." definitely is "way too

early" for walking to work and trying to record yourself. i'm thomas roberts. it is tuesday, january 27th. welcome to this one hour edition of "way too early" as we're covering the blizzard of 2015 for you right now. let's get to where things stand at this hour. the potential historic blizzard that has virtually shut down the northeastern parts of the united states. and now it looks to have somewhat fizzled overnight, but we have states of emergency declared in seven states as the brunt of the storm was expected overnight. forecasters said between 2 to 4 inches of snow would fall per hour. earlier forecasts called for up to 3 feet of snow in parts of connecticut, massachusetts and new york. but those numbers have been downgraded and parts of new england, well they're now expected to see the worst of about 2 feet of snow. at this hour some areas in connecticut are reporting more than 16 inches of snow. and there is close to a foot in parts of massachusetts. there are also snow drifts between 2 to 3 feet and here is

the important part wind gusts, they have already topped 70 miles per hour in nantucket. right now there are 60 million people under a winter weather alert and nearly 30 million people facing blizzard conditions. thousands are in the dark after losing power during the storm including nearly 6,000 in massachusetts alone. and this is a live look now at new york city. it is one of the many places that is virtually a ghost town after transit has shut down and nonemergency vehicles have been ordered off the road as a precaution. >> i keep saying to everyone take caution, take precautions, be careful. a lot ahead of us. this is literally the calm before the storm. it is about to start in earnest. when it does it is going to come in very fast very hard and people have to be very very careful. stay off the streets. stay off the sidewalks. >> okay. so most importantly let's get you up to the minute on the

forecast, the very latest from msnbc meteorologist domenica davis. domenica explain what changed overnight, how we have seen the difference in snowfalls for certain areas, how some have been more impacted than others. >> we have been seeing the heaviest snow bands through southeastern new england from providence all the way up to boston, the cape area has been getting hit pretty hard. that's where the heaviest swaths have gone. we're under blizzard warnings from new york. long island hit with very heavy snow bands too. this goes from new york all the way up to bangor maine. where we have the difference is the drop has been -- the blizzard warning has been dropped for parts of coastal new jersey. but this storm is still very much in effect. we have heavy bands moving through parts of massachusetts, 2 to 3 inches per hour. we'll have a closer look at the radar coming up in a bit. >> this is historic and one to watch at this point. domenica, we had temperatures here in new york like 40 degrees the day before correct? >> yeah it was. the cold will be locked in.

we're not going to be looking at temperatures above freezing until the end of the week. >> amazing switch. let's check in with nbc's chris pollone in boston. what are conditions like at this hour? >> reporter: yeah, thomas, it is getting pretty bad out here. we're told this could be one of the strongest periods of snow coming up between now and noon. right now it could be snowing at a rate of about 2 to 4 inches an hour. when we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap around 11:00 last night there was a dry, fine powdery snow falling, it had been falling for about two or three hours and only accumulated about half an inch to three quarters of an inch. wasn't much on the ground at all. since that time in the last four or five hours, the snow has gotten considerably more moisture in it started piling up and the wind is very significant now. as you mentioned, nantucket had wind gusts approaching hurricane force. here in boston it is much less but could reach 50 miles per hour today. so that's a big concern.

driving around the city, all you see is snow plows and emergency vehicles. in the places where the plows have hit in a few minutes sometimes they're snow covered again because of the drifting and blowing that is going on here. so in some patches you'll see bare ground and then you'll see anywhere up to like a foot of snow. parts of massachusetts are reporting a foot. i don't think we have that here in boston right now. and the big concern, of course is the coastline. we're approaching high tide right now. and so people in traditional places that flood, places like scituate and plymouth are watching their property right now because this storm could bring some storm surge and some coastal flooding. >> very good point about the high tide. chris, thank you, sir. much appreciated it. chris pollone, nbc in boston for us. want to check in with john yang from portland maine. as we can see there, the conditions look worse than what we saw with chris' shot. >> reporter: that's right, thomas. it is really picking up here. we're in the building phase here, the snow is coming down

much heavier than it has been in the past couple of hours. the winds are picking up. there is not much snow on the ground. less than half an inch. officially a tenth of an inch has fallen since midnight. i can tell you, there is a time and temperature sign that is over the street. it is elevated over the street. it is about two blocks behind me. when we came out here about three hours ago, i was able to see it clearly and we're watching the temperatures drop. but within the past hour, the snow has started coming down so heavily that i can't see it anymore. it is totally obscured by the snow falling. the forecasters here the meteorologists at our nbc affiliate wcsh here tell us they expect during the daylight hours the snow to be intense and the winds to be strong all day long. they say it could be falling at a rate of 2 to 3 inches an hour. by tonight, it should start

tapering off before ending sometime tomorrow. on wednesday. at that time they expect anywhere between 18 and 24 inches to have fallen. schools are closed. government offices are closed. parking band inging bans are in effect until tomorrow when snowplows get through. that's the most activity we have seen on streets here snowplows moving through, spreading salt and other chemicals on the streets to help them clear it after it all falls. so still in the building stages getting worse and worse here in portland. thomas? >> nbc's john yang from portland. thank you so much. we'll check in with you later. now we want to check in with msnbc's adam reese on long island where they have been hit with several inches so far. adam explain what we're seeing there. obviously this is a completely different weather system as we see with john being more impacted than what we're seeing

on long island now. but just in bad in terms of how many inches have accumulated. >> reporter: good morning, thomas, to you. about 21 hours and counting we have seen snow here on long island drifts up to about 3 feet. wind gusts, 31 miles per hour. now, the long island thresh way to my right, usually a parking lot, empty today. it is a virtual ghost town except caravans of plows. 650 pieces out on the road today. now, if you don't have to go outside today, obviously stay inside, stay warm. if you have elderly friends or family, you're going to want to check on them. there are concerns about power outages today across long island. want to be careful about trees down power lines down national guard is on alert in case of emergency. so they'll be out and about to check on people. elderly people in their homes. but as you can see here the snow pretty flaky.

it is getting thicker. the snow continues to come down. it is whipping around. it is very unpredictable. so right now we're expecting it to continue for at least through midday, thomas. >> john for people here in new york city we know that mayor de blasio put in that travel transportation ban in place so for people that are living out on long island what have you seen in terms of people out and about or are the streets completely bare? >> reporter: completely bare. like i said it feels like a ghost town here. there was a point about an hour ago when we saw a caravan of plows coming through the long island expressway. i thought i saw cars following the caravan, maybe some hardy souls trying to get to work today. but it was probably people following the plows supporting the plows. >> okay. adam reese on long island for us. adam, thank you, sir, much appreciated. this is one of the snowstorms to follow over the last several hours, especially, because of

the indication of how much snowfall is about to come and then we're going to get hit again, especially as we just heard coming up in massachusetts with high tide. let's go back to domenica davis. massachusetts obviously, no strangers to this type of snow, but plymouth i think we heard is one area that will be most affected when high tide comes in. >> plymouth, scituate, we have seen in some cases outside of the boston harbor they're looking at a surge that was 2 to 3 feet in some cases. winthrop on the north shore, they were looking at waves that are were coming over the seawall as well. so it is going to be a long hour for them with the high tide and that is certainly adding insult to injury. it is something that they're used to, but it is a lot going on. they have the winds, heavy snow blizzard conditions in many cases. here is a look at the radar. this is important to know where you see the blues showing up that's heavy snowfall that's coming in.

so that has the potential to drop an additional 2 to 3 inches per hour. and in some cases we're already closing in on a foot. lowell, mass is reporting over 7 inches of snow there. and really down through the pike, where we're seeing that enhanced blue that's where we're looking at the 2 to 3 inches. they're really going to get battered. this is going to continue. the blizzard warnings go throughout the day. these conditions are going to stay pretty gnarly not only through this morning, but through much of the afternoon with very strong winds. and we have been seeing the strong winds, thomas. we have our highest wind highest wind gust i should say, in nantucket, after 2:00 in the morning, 72 miles per hour. that is just a few shy of what we are looking at for hurricane force winds, which are 74 miles per hour. so for a blizzard, you need winds over 35 miles per hour. we definitely meet that criteria.

visibility needs to be less than a quarter of a mile. that needs to persist for three hours or more. we have met that here in new england. we'll continue to see it. basically, what we're looking at is a whiteout a persistent whiteout through the new england area. here is a look at the visibility. we're less than a mile in boston. you see it is pretty much a half mile in hartford. a mile in new york. and even down through philadelphia, and washington visibility is compromised. just keep in mind even where we're not talking, blockbuster snowfall, we still have very dangerous conditions with the visibility and it will still be slick out there. it is not all just about the snow with this storm. it is also about the winds. and it is also going to be about the cold and the ice. so everybody up and down the east coast is certainly going to take it easy. not just where we're expecting to see those big snowfalls. a little bit lesser winds coming down to the south. so from new york still a pretty decent wind gust 25 miles per

hour. atlantic city is 20. philadelphia, 16 miles per hour. now, these winds will pick up through the course of the morning and into the afternoon. so i would say definitely our power outages will be more concentrated through new england. but i wouldn't be surprised if we do pick up some power outages, especially on long island where they are looking at significant snow and could close in on the foot mark by this afternoon. the winds are going to be picking up and with that snow weighing down on the power lines, they're fair game to start losing power. so a lot going on. we're in the thick of this. and this is going to last really definitely through the morning. and into the afternoon. for new england it will be through the afternoon and the better part of the evening. thomas? >> domenica talk about that trifecta of the visibility, high winds and temperatures let's bring in now whdh reporter victoria lion in milford, massachusetts. i understand milford expected to get hit the hardest in

massachusetts. talk about the information we have gotten from your state of emergency, and the governor and also what do we know specifically about power outages and people suffering from that? >> reporter: good morning, thomas. we have more than 5,000 customers already without power and things are really just getting started in the area. the way i've been describing it this morning, combine this snow with the wind and it actually feels like a little glass shards smacking you into the face. we have a travel ban in effect. you can see behind me right over here, we have plows pretty much coming through. news media is allowed to be on the roads now. so we did our driving around 2:00 in the morning. and it was bad, but it is getting a lot worse as we speak. they're having a hard time keeping up with it. we're in one of those intense bands now that you were just talking about where the snow is falling at about 2 to 3 inches an hour. so that's just really unprecedented. this is a little bit of the drifting snow that we have been dealing with. and it is at least knee deep in

some instances. clearly more we had a nuisance storm over the weekend, so some piles are pretty high. we have some issues -- we have many fir hydrants getting covered up. there are a lot of concerns associated with the storm, but one of the most important things that folks in our area need to do is stay off the roads and stay inside. i can tell you from standing out here, thomas it is not a comfortable situation to be in at all. you can layer up against the cold but there is really nothing you can do about this wind driven snow pelting you in the face. very uncomfortable and quite dangerous if you don't have to be out here thomas. >> absolutely, with the wind whipping and i know it is sharp snow certainly as i was walking into work today, i could feel that. victoria, we'll let you go. victoria warren with whdh. appreciate the update right there. much more live coverage of the blizzard of 2015 including how transportation across the country is feeling the effects of the northeastern storm.

as you can imagine, there is a huge ripple effect taking place because of so many flight cancellations and how airports are dealing with this. if you are traveling for business for any other reason today, we're going to update you on airport situation. "way too early" right back after this.

laguardia looks like this it is a ghost town. a third of the air travel in the united states goes through new york air space, lands in it comes out of it or transits through it. right now this air space is essentially a no-go zone.

>> a no-go zone. as we mentioned earlier, major cities across the northeast are paralyzed this morning after officials preemptively took action hours before the storm. tomorrow seems to be the best case scenario for many airline passengers after 7500 flights in and out of the region have been canceled for today. you can imagine the ripple effect this has for the rest of the country. airline officials say virtually no activity is expected today at major hubs including kennedy and laguardia airports in new york and logan airport in boston. public transit is also shut down across the east coast. these hard to believe images from the big apple show empty subway cars in the city that never sleeps. but it now is at a stand still. trains are also not running in boston and throughout connecticut and new jersey. and roads are deserted following the travel bans in several states. only emergency vehicles are currently allowed. drivers who ignore this ban in new york may face a $300 fine.

>> and it is no joke to have people stranded on a highway. we have gone through that before. it is -- it is frightening how -- how quickly a simple trip to the supermarket can wind up being very dangerous. we have learned the lesson the hard way. i'd rather err on the side of caution. in this situation, i don't even think it is a close call because if you spend any time on the roads or look out the window you understand how difficult the situation is and it hasn't even started yet. >> so a similar travel ban is in effect in new jersey. governor chris christie urged the state to take all necessary precautions, but joked that residents may have been panicking just a bit. >> residents should prepare themselves, though as usual for the possible outages including supplies of water, nonperishable

food stomachsitems, personal hygiene items, cell phone, et cetera. from all the reports i've seen you all seem to have been to the supermarket in the last 24 hours, and don't know why the rush on bread, but what the heck. a lot more bread, i'm sure you're able to get it. >> a really scary moment last night for nbc new york reporter stacy bell. get this a car nearly ran into her as she was finishing a live report on long island. luckily everything is okay. but just take a look at how close this was. >> earlier today, nassau county executive ed mangano said they treated the roads that are normally trouble spots, they have the plows out. they think they're ready for this and they're ahead of the storm as the snow continues to fall overnight, only time will tell. reporting live from nassau county, stacy bell news 4 new york. >> don't know what just happened there. >> quite a scene behind you. a little sliding or spinning or

intentional. >> what just happened there, it looked like a really stupid person who was trying to get themselves on television in a really bad way. like david ushery said unclear what happened there, but you see the other cars behind that red vehicle slide as well but not nearly as badly and they weren't revving their engines either trying to make that turn. much more on this storm's path and what weather in the northeast looks like for today. we're going to keep you updated. this is a fluid situation. we encourage you to stay with us. this is "way too early," a little earlier for you this morning, which has jen very excited. yes, we're back after this break.

look at these drifts out here. these are about 3 to 4 footers. you walk in them and then you get stuck. where i walked before i just walked through there for the weather channel, but you walk through here and then you get -- your boot gets down here and you wonder if you're going to get out. what i need is a pair of snowshoes to walk on top of these drifts. but we're going to be in this most of today. the snowfall rate may back off a little bit, but, boy, these wins are not going to really back off until dinner time. >> mike seidel showing some of the height of the storm there from plymouth mass. to new jersey now. that's where the weather channel's reynolds wolf is live in eaton town in northeastern

new jersey. a bit lighter than what we have seen from other live shots to the north. >> reporter: absolutely. what is interesting about this i've covered i think 38 named storms in terms of tropical systems. this one i know we're talking winter but very similar to a tropical system where you have feeder bands that come on shore. that's how it has been here in north new jersey a blast of heavier snow and wind that will come through and then you get a break. it takes it easy a little bit and then builds back up. what i can testify is we'll have more winds later on today. even when the snow begins to fizzle out, we'll have drifts that will get in. most people may step outside later on today and say, hey, 14 inches of snowfall outside your house. the precipitation is probably going to be between 5 and 8, but with the drifts will seem a lot higher. one thing that has not been high at all, power outages. that's wonderful news. i don't know if you can see at home, quite a bit of trees in northern new jersey. no leaves in the trees this time of year that's an obvious thing, a lucky thing. if you had the leaves in the

trees, more snow sticking to them weighs down the branches the branches break, more power outages. as it stands now, only 50 customers reporting with that power at the time. however, power companies got some 220 people either to take in branches that need it clear branches if needed or string more wire. some of the bad news we have in terms of delays we had, let's see, roughly a thousand delays this morning at laguardia jfk and over at newark. then you bring in philadelphia and those numbers go up even more. those are people trying to leave from this area. then you have an additional thousand trying to go from another spot to come here. so both places, it is slow going. roads, as you saw, that plow struck just drove by are in good shape. governor christie has the travel ban in shape. what you can do here more than anything is maybe do a few push-ups and that's about it in terms of your moving around. people not advised to go driving at all unless it is an absolute complete emergency. has to be an emergency.

as you can tell things in jersey for the time being, total stand still. conditions should get better as we make our way through the afternoon, evening and tomorrow. still, interesting times to deal with the aftermath of all the snow and all this wind. back to you. >> reynolds you're giving a snow update and fitness tips as we move along the morning here. you're really i think, inspiring a lot of the 5:30 folks watching "way too early" on the treadmill. so thank you, sir. appreciate it. we'll talk again soon. back now to nbc's chris pollone in boston. chris, as we were hearing there from reynolds it really is about the feeder bands coming through and how we have seen certain areas more impacted in different hours than others. so let's talk about the state of emergency certainly for massachusetts, certain governors have reacted a little differently as we heard chris christie with his reaction about the storm than we say a governor cuomo. so what are we seeing from yours? >> reporter: yeah. here there clearly