By Brendan O'Brien
(Reuters) - A potential blizzard was heading toward a wide swath of the U.S. East Coast on Sunday, prompting weather alerts and storm warnings from New Hampshire to Philadelphia, the National Weather Service said.
A blizzard watch will go into effect on Monday afternoon for Boston and New York City, where the government's severe weather website warned residents of a "potentially historic storm" that may bring up to 2 feet (61 cm) of snow.
The severe weather also led to winter storm warnings and advisories in states stretching from Maine to Indiana, an area where more than 60 million people live, the weather service said.
American Airlines has canceled a handful of flights, including a Monday flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London's Heathrow airport and one scheduled to depart on Monday from Heathrow to New York, spokesman Matt Miller said.
Southwest, Delta and other carriers had not canceled flights but were bracing for problems on Monday.
"It's safe to say there will be cancellations," Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said, adding they will likely come on Monday and Tuesday.
The weather service has predicted heavy snow and wind gusts for Boston and New York City, starting on Monday and through the night.
The New York suburb of Long Island was expecting up to 14 inches by Tuesday morning.
The Philadelphia Streets Department said on its Facebook page that crews were preparing for a "messy Monday morning commute," while the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation told travelers to postpone travel if necessary.
The weather service expects as much as 8 inches of snow for western Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, while parts of New Jersey through eastern Massachusetts may get 6 to 12 inches of snow by Tuesday morning.
"It'll come in as a light snow, light rain mixture as early as early evening and then gradually change over to snow, but the heaviest will be later tonight and throughout Monday morning," NWS meteorologist Kevin Witt said on Sunday.
The storm is expected to snarl rush-hour traffic and delay flights, Witt added.
"It's going to greatly reduce the traffic speed and maybe cause some roads to be at a standstill ... Those who need to go to work or need to go out should expect double time," Witt said.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien, additional reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Jon Herskovitz, Gareth Jones and Jeffrey Benkoe)
