A section of the United States East Coast is braced for a potentially historic blizzard on Monday that is expected to dump as much as 90 centimeters of snow and disrupt transport for tens of millions of people.

The National Weather Service on Sunday issued a blizzard warning for the northern section of the East Coast from Monday afternoon until Tuesday, placing states from New Jersey to Maine under winter storm watches and advisories. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights ahead of the storm.

"This could be the biggest snowstorm in the history of this city," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference.