Severe storms are rolling through central Minnesota including the Twin Cities

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A massive winter storm has brought hurricane-force winds, blizzard conditions and damaging coastal flooding to eastern New England, one day after it delivered unusual cold and snow to the South.

The National Weather Service has detected gusts of 75 and 76 mph in Massachusetts, The Associated Press reports, which qualifies as hurricane-force winds. Visibility has dropped to near zero in some snow bands in the storm.

"Blizzard to near blizzard conditions will likely persist into the evening hours from eastern Massachusetts to Maine," the weather service says.

Coastal Massachusetts is also experiencing "major and destructive" flooding, brought by a combination of high tide and waves from the storm, the weather service writes. Some roads have become impassable.

 that the city may have set a high-tide record, although it will need to be confirmed.

 that some Boston train stations had to be shut down because of flooding, which affected multiple streets in the city's downtown.

But brutal winter weather is par for the course in Boston, and some residents are braving the elements, the AP writes:

It's so cold in Florida, iguanas are falling from trees

 residents, "We do not recommend going out and floating on icebergs; this is a very dangerous situation along the coastline with major flooding ongoing."

The "bomb cyclone" that's bludgeoning New England is a powerful storm, bringing bitter cold and heavy snow.

The rate at which the storm has intensified is unusual — the Capital Weather Gang at the Washington Post called it "astonishing." A storm can be classified as a "bomb cyclone," or a particularly fast-forming storm, if the pressure drops 24 millibars in 24 hours. This storm has more than doubled that pace.

"This storm's pressure tanked 53 millibars in 21 hours (and 59 millibars in 24 hours), which puts it into the upper echelon of the most explosive East Coast storms ever observed — and perhaps even at the top," the Post writes.

https://twitter.com/NWSMarquette/status/948899581256925184

The NWS in Boston calls this storm "impressive, explosive" and "high-impact."

Thousands of flights have been canceled. Across the Northeast, schools are shuttered, salt has been spread, and local officials are pleading with residents to stay off the streets if they can.

https://twitter.com/NASA_SPoRT/status/948921892852916225

There is near-zero visibility in some of the snow bands passing over the states from New Jersey to Maine, the weather service says.

As NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports, it's not just the ice and cold that authorities are worried about:

Lori Mack, of member station WNPR in Connecticut, tells our newscast unit there are whiteout conditions in parts of the state.

https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites/status/948947460088573952

 that officials are urging New York City residents to remain indoors:

As the "bomb cyclone" intensifies, visibility has dropped to nearly zero in some sections of the snow band. Serious flooding and hurricane force winds have been observed in coastal Massachusetts.

Blizzard conditions hit New England as massive winter storm travels north

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