People shovel snow off a sidewalk in The Heights section of Jersey City, N.J., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. An overnight storm blanketed Jersey City with snow for the first time this winter. The previous snow accumulation happened during the rare snowfall on Oct. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
People shovel snow off a sidewalk in The Heights section of Jersey City, N.J., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. An overnight storm blanketed Jersey City with snow for the first time this winter. The previous snow accumulation happened during the rare snowfall on Oct. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A man walks on a snow covered sidewalk in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. A weekend snowstorm is blanketing the Northeast, creating treacherous travel conditions and some delays at airports. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
A JetBlue plane is deiced, as seen through the window of the plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in New York. A weekend snowstorm is blanketing the Northeast, creating treacherous travel conditions and some delays at airports. (AP Photo/Aaron Jackson)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A weekend storm blanketed the Northeast with a few inches of snow Saturday, just the second significant snowfall of the season for many in the region, including Philadelphia and New York City.
The National Weather Service predicted 4 to 6 inches in New York City before the snow stops in the afternoon. Early Saturday morning flurries and freezing rain showers were expected for the Washington area. Philadelphia is under a winter weather advisory and could receive up to 4 inches of snow.
Up to 7 inches was predicted for southeastern Massachusetts, not much by the standards of a New England winter but noteworthy in a season marked by a lack of snow throughout the Northeast, aside from a rare October snowstorm that knocked out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses in the region.
"We've been very lucky, so we can't complain," said Gloria Fernandez of New York City, as she shoveled the sidewalk outside her workplace. "It's nice, it's fluffy and it's on the weekend," she said of the snow.
Road conditions were fair Saturday morning, officials said. Crews in Pennsylvania and New Jersey began salting roads around midnight and plowing soon after. By midmorning, the snow had turned to sleet in Philadelphia north through central New Jersey.
"It's a fairly moderate snowstorm, at best," said weather service forecaster Bruce Sullivan.
Few accidents were reported on the roads, helped by the weekend's lack of rush hour traffic, but New Jersey transportation spokesman Joe Dee cautioned drivers to build in more time for trips. Though temperatures will warm up this afternoon he said, forecasters expect the wet ground to freeze again overnight.
Flights arriving at Philadelphia Airport were delayed up to two hours because of snow and ice accumulation, but most departing flights were leaving on time, a spokeswoman said.
New York City had 1,500 snow plows at the ready, each equipped with global positioning systems that will allow supervisors to see their approximate location on command maps updated every 30 seconds, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a morning news conference.
The equipment was installed last year following a disaster of a storm that struck the day after Christmas of 2010, when even the city's plows were stuck and stranded in drifts, and streets remained impassable for days. Bloomberg said the GPS system has already led to "vastly improved communication" between supervisors and plow operators.
In Connecticut, where the October storm had its biggest impact and some were without power for more than a week, about 6 inches of snow was forecast. State police had responded to dozens of accidents by midmorning but said none appeared to be serious.
As always, some welcomed the snow.
Enough accumulated through the week for snowmobiling and ice fishing in New Hampshire, where cross-country ski trails and snowshoeing were open at Bretton Woods and other trails.
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