BOSTON — Residents and officials across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. are bracing for a powerful winter storm expected to produce blizzard conditions Saturday.

Heavy snow and strong winds were forecasted to begin in parts of the Carolinas and Appalachia on Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

The system will then intensify as a nor’easter and bring snowy conditions up the East Coast to New England, where forecasters warned of snowfall totals of up to 20 inches and wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph.