NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rapidly moving snowstorm swept across the northeastern United States on Wednesday, dumping up to 6 inches (15 cm) in some areas, annoying morning rush-hour commuters and delaying the start of classes at dozens of schools.
By midday, as the system moved over Cape Cod toward the Atlantic Ocean, the heaviest accumulations were along the New York-Connecticut border and the Worcester, Massachusetts, area, where 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm) of snow fell, the National Weather Service said.
"This is sort of the theme of this winter," said meteorologist Dan Petersen of the weather service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
"You get several different storms occurring and they're quick-hitting and they move on, and you get a quick shot of cold air afterward and it's short-lasting, and a day or two later it warms up," Petersen said.
The Boston area got 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) while accumulations in the New York metropolitan area were lighter, the weather service said.
Several dozen public and private schools in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts delayed the start of classes by one to three hours because of the snow, while a handful, mostly in New England, closed, local media reported.
The region will be in the grips of a big chill on Thursday, but it too will move out quickly, Petersen said.
The frigid air mass was over the upper Midwest on Wednesday, where some overnight temperatures dropped to lows of minus 20 to 30 Fahrenheit (minus 29 to 34 Celsius), Petersen said. It will warm up as it moves eastward across the Great Lakes, but still will leave Boston below freezing on Thursday, he added.
(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
