Potent Winter Storm Breaks Records, As It Moves Northeast

Update at 8:13 p.m. ET. Lots Of Snow:

As it continues to move up the Northeast Coast, a potent snowstorm is already a record breaker. Take these two highlights, for example:

— NBC Chicago reports that Feb. 1, 2015, is now the snowiest first day of February in history. And with 19.3 inches of snow recorded, this is the fifth-largest snow event in city history.

The Chicago Tribune reports that unofficially the snow totals may have been greater, with some areas of Chicago reporting up to 22 inches of snow.

— In Boston, the storm meant the pile of snow already on the ground is just getting deeper.

Weather.com reports:

"Boston reported 9.9 inches of snow as of 1 p.m., bringing its total to 34.2 inches over the past seven days. That's the snowiest one-week period in Boston since modern weather records began in 1891.

"Winter storm warnings remain in effect for a large part of the New England."

— The AP reports that in Detroit:

"The National Weather Service said 16.7 inches fell at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus on Sunday and Monday. It was the No. 3 snow on record for Detroit and the area's most since a 19.3-inch dump Dec. 1-2, 1974, the agency said."

Our original post reports:

The Northeast is bracing for more snow: The National Weather Service is warning of "a potent winter storm" from the Ohio Valley to New England, with Boston expected to get up to 12 inches of snow.

"Bitterly cold weather will settle in behind this system from the Upper Midwest to New England," the National Weather Service says.

Areas around the Great Lakes, upstate New York and New England will also see a lot of snow. The storm has caused extensive power outages across Illinois and Indiana.

The storm dumped 19 inches of snow across the Chicago region on Sunday, making it the fifth-largest on record.

NPR's David Schaper in Chicago tells our Newscast unit that "many Chicagoans spent the morning trying to dig their cars out of waist-deep snowdrifts while others didn't even bother trying, knowing they'd very likely get stuck a short time later on the still unplowed side streets."

David says Chicago Public Schools and most suburban and private schools are closed, but Chicago school buildings are open with some staff on hand for children with nowhere else to go.

David Epstein, meteorologist at WBUR, is urging Boston residents to avoid travel if they can. He says the storm is likely to end between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The Weather Channel says nearly 70 million people are under a winter advisory this morning; the weather has affected flights as well.

The new storm approaching New England comes after last week's nor'easter dumped as much as 3 feet of snow on some regions.