Late-winter snow storm threatens Northeast

A late-winter storm that has made life miserable for parts of the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic region continued north on Thursday, threatening a region that has seen its share of storms in recent months.

The current storm, which largely spared the nation’s capital but hit hard parts of Virginia and Maryland, was in New Jersey, where it dropped rain and snow. It was expected to move its sloshy way up through to New England, where snow and heavy winds were expected to bring more power outages.

“The ongoing winter storm in the Northeast will continue to bring heavy rain to parts of the southern New England coast, with snow further inland, Thursday into Friday. Total snowfall expected varies by location but generally ranges from 2-4 inches for the New York City metro area and Long Island to as much as 8 inches for parts of southern New England and the higher elevations of upstate New York,” according to the National Weather Service.

From New Jersey through New England, people are still recovering from a slew of storms, including Superstorm Sandy. The most recent storms brought record-setting heavy wet snows and some flooding to coastal areas along with downed power lines. Forecasters say this week’s storm will be smaller.

The weather service was predicting up to 7 inches of snow in southeastern Connecticut through Friday morning and winds that could gust to 50 mph. A coastal flood warning was in effect for shores in Massachusetts, with a 3-foot surge expected.

Almost 4,500 flights around the nation have been canceled this week because of the poor weather.

In Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, and about 50 National Guard soldiers were sent out to help clear roads. Up to 20 inches of snow piled up in central and western parts of the state. More than 200,000 customers in Virginia lost power, and 40,000 in New Jersey were left in the dark.

The storm dumped 2 feet of snow in parts of West Virginia, closing schools in more than half the state and leaving more than 20,000 customers without power.

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