(Image source: National Weather Service ) BY NATHAN BYRNE ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE The National Weather Service is calling it a “potential historic winter storm.” Blizzard conditions are expected as two storms meet on their way to the Northeast. “Once they merge, it’ll be all about the positioning — not only of the low itself, but where that freezing line is — and all these factors will determine how much snow we will have in each area.” [Video: CNN ] Bloomberg reports 18 to 24 inches of snow could fall on Boston alone. T he Weather Channel indicates the storm’s range covers a much broader area , though. “Winter storm watches almost all over the Northeast, including northern and central New Jersey, and winter storm warnings in western New York, where we’ll also see some pretty big totals out of this. And I mentioned those blizzard watches extended into southern Connecticut.” Despite the projected swath of the storm, a meteorologist for WNBC in New York says it’s not time to hunker down just yet. “Not everybody necessarily will see blizzard conditions. But plan on things really going downhill today into tomorrow night. That’s the worst part of the storm.” No one knows the storm’s outcome yet. But we do know its name. The Weather Channel calls it Winter Storm Nemo. And one Forbes contributor has taken a particular interest in the “mini-controversy” that exists between the National Weather Service and The Weather Channel over naming winter storms. Because the NWS doesn’t name the storms, it rates them. But The Weather Channel defends its naming policy , saying it raises awareness and makes the storms easier to follow, reference and remember. Doesn’t sound like this one will be easy to forget, anyway. USA Today predicts Hartford, Providence, Worcester, Mass., Concord, N.H., Portsmouth, N.H., and Portland, Maine could be hardest hit — while Boston braces for its first major snowfall of the season. Nemo is expected to hit the Northeast on Friday.