New England Gets 6-Inch Snow; Another Storm Hits Northwest

A fast-moving storm blanketed parts of southeastern New England on Wednesday with as much as six inches of snow before heading out to sea, while another storm packing rain, snow and high winds swept into the Pacific Northwest.

The storm in the Northeast generally left from two to four inches of snow on the ground across coastal Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The snow diminished to flurries before heading off the coast.

“It was a very fast-moving storm. Things could have been a lot worse if it was closer to land and if it had moved slower,” a weather bureau forecaster said.

The snow was blamed for at least one fatality when a car slammed into the back of a snowplow near Lincoln, R.I.

Snowfall amounts included six inches in Point Judith, R.I., five inches at Cape Cod and four inches in Chatham, Mass.

Gale warnings remained in effect along the coasts of northern New England, Maryland and North Carolina. Winds early Wednesday gusted to more than 30 m.p.h. at Boston and Falmouth, Mass., and at Augusta and Portland, Me.

High tides combined with the winds to threaten flooding from the Carolinas to Maryland and along parts of the Florida coast.

A cold front Wednesday in the Pacific Northwest spread rain with snow in the higher elevations over Northern California and the western half of Oregon. Strong winds prompted gale warnings for the Washington and Oregon coasts.

Rain also was scattered along the northern and central Pacific Coast.