2 feet of snow out east means canceled flights here in Minnesota

As we're entering another few days of warm weather, the Northeast is preparing for a historic and potentially catastrophic winter storm, which could dump more than 2 feet of snow from New Jersey to Maine starting Monday night, the National Weather Service notes.

And the storm's effects could spread nationwide as airlines cancel flights ahead of the winter wallop.

Even before the first flakes had fallen, over 2,300 flights were canceled for Monday, according to Flightaware.com. About 1,900 flights nationwide had been canceled for Tuesday as well, CNN reports.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, at least 22 direct flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to the major airports in the Northeast had been canceled for Monday and Tuesday, Flightaware.com notes. And more are expected.

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Some major airlines, including United and US Airways, plan to halt all operations at certain airports in the region Tuesday, USA Today says.

The winter storm could affect travelers for the next 72 hours, USA Today says, noting flight cancellations are expected to continue into Wednesday.

Major airlines are waiving rebooking fees for flights to and from the Northeast.

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How will this compare to Minnesota snowfall?

This week's snowstorm could bury some records in Boston and New York City.

For comparison, Minnesota's biggest single storm snowfall dumped 46.5 inches of snow in Lake County in January 1994, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

For the Twin Cities, the record single storm snowfall total is 28.4 inches, set during the Halloween blizzard in 1991.

So far this year, the Twin Cities has had just three snowstorms with more than 3 inches of snow, MPR News reports.