The U.S. Northeast is bracing for yet another winter storm system that is expected to bring up to a foot of snow that will make for a difficult Monday morning commute for many cities, forecasters say.

Winter storm watches, warnings or advisories have been issued for areas of at least 15 states, from Nebraska and South Dakota through the Great Lakes states into northern New England.

The National Weather Service tweeted the bad news.

Heavy #snow from Midwest to southern New England through Monday. https://t.co/Encl3uyc2s pic.twitter.com/pC14AwcXGs

- NWS (@NWS) January 31, 2015

At Chicago's two major airports about 1,400 flights were cancelled Saturday with forecasts of up to 18 inches of snow in the city.

"We are right now ramping up into blizzard conditions," said meteorologist David Beachler with the National Weather Service in Chicago. "The winds will steadily increase, possibly with 45 mph gusts. Travel is I am sure is hazardous. It was rough for us to get to our shifts today."

More than 300 pieces of equipment and 356,000 tons of salt are on hand ready to clear the roads, city officials said.

Up to a foot of snow was expected in Detroit and Cleveland.

As it moves east it would like drop anywhere from 4 inches to a foot of snow in New York and Boston, forecasters said.

In western Pennsylvania the storm could put a damper on the annual Groundhog Day festivities Monday morning in which Punxsutawney Phil will make his prediction of how much more winter we can look forward to.

"He's gonna wake up to snow when they pull him out of the ground," said Weather.com meteorologist Tom Moore. "He's not going to be a happy groundhog."

The storm was moving unusually slowly, forecasters said, meaning it could pile up significant accumulations of snow in the areas it moves through, as well as bringing rain.

In New York, officials issued a snow alert and said they were readying crews, snow plows and salt spreaders in preparation for as much as 10 inches of snow predicted for Sunday night through Monday.

Temperatures could drop to as low as 2 degrees on Monday night, forecasters said, which would break an 11-year record for the coldest Feb. 2.