Cape Cod and Maine hammered by blizzard conditions

Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and eastern Maine were forecast to get 8-16 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 70 m.p.h.

A spring storm brought high winds that whipped snow across portions of Massachusetts and eastern Maine on Wednesday, causing near-whiteout conditions on Cape Cod as it moved up the Atlantic coast.

Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard were expected to bear the brunt of the storm as it strikes Massachusetts, perhaps dropping up to 10 inches of snow, forecasters said. Less snow was expected farther to the north and east in Massachusetts, with the Boston area getting just an inch or two.

Schools across Cape Cod closed, while ferry and flight service to the islands was canceled. State courts in the region also closed. Winds that could gust up to 70 miles per hour was blowing snow horizontally Wednesday morning, stinging the faces of those few who dared venture outside.

On Maine's eastern tip, Hancock and Washington counties could get 8 to 16 inches of snow. Gov. Paul LePage ordered state offices in both counties closed Wednesday morning as flurries started falling.

Blizzard warnings were in effect in both states. The National Weather Service also warned of coastal flooding and significant beach erosion along the Massachusetts coast and wind gusts causing scattered power outages in eastern Maine.

Just days after the official end of one of the snowiest winters on record, the storm began heading up the Interstate 95 corridor on Tuesday, dropping snowflakes onto Washington, D.C.'s budding cherry trees and dusting government buildings in northern Virginia. Almost 4 inches of snow was reported at Dulles International Airport and 1.7 inches at Reagan National Airport.

As the storm moved north, it dropped about 6 inches of snow in southern Delaware's Sussex County and blanketed parts of southern New Jersey, where 6½ inches of snow was reported in Cape May, 5½ inches in Middle Township and 4 inches at Atlantic City International Airport.

Transportation officials around the mid-Atlantic region are warning motorists to take care and watch for black ice a day after a spring snowstorm hit the region.

Officials are urging motorists to lower their speeds Wednesday morning since most roads are clear, but melted snow may have frozen overnight.

Taunton, Mass-based meteorologist Matt Doody was unfazed by the prospect of more snow during a seemingly relentless season. "Here in New England, we're generally used to dealing with weather like this," he said early Wednesday.

Although spring began a week ago, it's not unusual to have storms so late in the year, said weather service spokesman Bill Simpson. The Boston area got more than 2 inches of snow in an April storm last year and was blanketed with almost 2 feet the same month in 1997.

"I can't wait for it to warm up," 20-year-old Dajuan Davis of Boston, a massage school student bundled up in a heavy jacket, said Tuesday. "I'm from North Carolina. I'm not used to this cold weather."

Where the snow falls and how much will depend on the storm's track. But wind and temperatures of 20 to 25 degrees below normal were expected to cover the Mid-Atlantic states and New England as the storm traveled from southern Virginia to Maine.

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Associated Press writer Paige Sutherland in Boston contributed to this report.

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