WASHINGTON — (CNN) It was bound to happen sometime — the return of winter to the Northeast. It is January after all.

It’s three weeks into the new year and a major snowstorm is brewing. One that could make life miserable for some 50 million people in the Northeast.

Washington. How does two feet of snow sound? New York and Boston. You could wake up to 12 inches of powder on Saturday.

But will this monster of a storm even happen?

Weather prognosticators say it’s too soon to know.

Is it coming or not?

The forecast is dicey. The system is just starting to come in from the Pacific and won’t reach the East Coast until Friday.

“There is a moderate threat for a significant winter storm Friday into Saturday,” according to the National Weather Service. It could make a mess of things from eastern Tennessee to Maine and into Canada.

Major travel delays, blowing and drifting snow and coastal flooding are all in the mix if the forecast holds true.

This far out, the forecast has a large margin of error, according to CNN meteorologist Judson Jones.

“Timing and intensity will continue to change throughout the week,” he said. “The impacts could range from extensive to minimal.”

This forecast won’t foster warm memories for folks in the Boston area.

Like this time last year, Beantown had received little snow, but over the course of the next few weeks was buried under a record-setting 110 inches of it.

Forecasters will have a better idea how predictions are lining up by midweek.

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