The National Weather Service director says the ingredients have come together for a historic blizzard — complete with brutally high winds, dangerous inland flooding and even possible white-out and thunder snow.

Louis Uccellini says that the storm could easily cause more than $1 billion in damage and paralyze the Eastern one-third of the nation. He says it has the potential to affect more than 50 million people. Washington looks like the bullseye of the blizzard.

Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Paul Kocin says the blizzard has the potential to be near the top 10 snowstorms in history to hit the East, with the weekend timing and days of warning being a saving grace that could limit death and damage.

He compared this storm to Snowmageddon, the first of two storms that slammed Washington in 2010, dumping up to 30 inches of snow in some places. Forecasters are calling for up to 2 feet of snow in the nation’s capital.

(AP)