Major storm hits East Coast

NEWARK, N.J – Highway crews spread salt on roads and schools gave students an unplanned holiday Monday as a storm plowed along the East Coast with a threat of more than a foot of snow.

Storm watches and warnings were posted as far north as Maine, and snow coated roads as far south as North Carolina and eastern Kentucky.

Six to 10 inches of snow was likely in the New York City area by the time the storm lets up this morning, with 14 inches possible in northwestern New Jersey and the Poconos of northeastern Pennsylvania, and up to 2 feet in the mountains of West Virginia, the National Weather Service said. Eight inches were possible in Boston.

Schools were closed from Kentucky to Pennsylvania because of slippery roads or in anticipation of worsening weather, and others decided to send students home early.

For New Jersey, the storm arrived just five days after one that dumped nearly 8 inches on parts of the state.

The speed limit on the New Jersey Turnpike was reduced to 45 mph for the length of the state.

The storm was expected to drop 8 to 12 inches on parts of Vermont, which could be enough to hamper today’s annual town meetings, the staple of local government in the region.

The snow was wet and heavy in parts of North Carolina, causing power line breaks that blacked out more than 11,000 customers, officials said.

But in North Carolina’s western mountains, the snowy weather was welcomed.

“This is sort of the winter we haven’t been having,” said Brad Moretz, general manager of Appalachian Ski Mountain. “March will exceed our expectations. This weekend we’ll have good weather and good slope conditions.”