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A swath of East Coast states was on edge Tuesday as an expected Nor'easter — the second in less than a week — rumbled toward the region, threatening 45 million people with strong winds and up to a foot of snow in some parts.

The latest storm, which comes on the heels of a deadly Nor'easter that cut power to tens of thousands of people last week, won't bring the same intense winds and flooding, forecasters said. The system is expected to move fast, peaking Wednesday afternoon through the night before moving out by Thursday morning.

Snow was expected to start falling in the New York City area late Tuesday with little accumulation. But by midmorning Wednesday, the Nor'easter will be in full swing, and estimates for the city topped out at 8 to 12 inches, with up to a foot in parts of New Jersey and Connecticut and 6 inches in Boston.

The rain-snow line could make exact totals difficult to calculate. If the storm moves southeast, the snowfall totals could rise, forecasters said.

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Related: Second storm forecast for East Coast already struggling with power failures

By late Wednesday, winds could reach 30 mph to 40 mph, but snowfall will gradually decrease until the storm rolls out early Thursday.

Meanwhile, the storm could threaten more flooding in coastal cities, such as Duxbury, Massachusetts. Crews in the historic seaside town south of Boston were working to prevent a second round of flooding after a seawall collapsed during last week's storm.