West Virginia declared a state of emergency Monday in anticipation of as much as two feet (60 centimeters) of heavy snow from the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said the powerful storm was forecast to provoke "significant snowfall and blizzard conditions," as well as heavy rain and flooding, to the landlocked Appalachian mountain state.

The declaration applies to all 55 counties in West Virginia, including 14 for which blizzard warnings have been issued in anticipation of what the governor called "a three-punch storm."

The National Weather Service said the highest ridge-tops of the central Appalachians could get upwards of two feet of snow, most of it falling on Monday night and Tuesday.

While most attention has focused on Sandy's wet impact on densely populated Mid-Atlantic coastal states, inland regions face heavy snow as moisture from the hurricane collides with a cold front advancing from the west.

West Virginia and adjacent Virginia and Maryland were hard hit by a sudden windstorm, known as a derecho, that swept through the region on June 29, leaving millions without power.