Early Snow Storm for Northeast

Winter walloped much of the US this week as the the National Weather Service posted a winter  storm watch Tuesday for parts of West Virginia as a cold snap continued in much of the eastern United States.
Up to 6 inches of snow was possible in the mountains around Elkins, W.Va., as a mass of cold air covered the eastern Great Lakes and encroached on the Carolinas.

"It may be a shock to some, when compared with the above-average temperatures of last year in the East," said Accu-Weather forecaster Joe Bastardi said.

Forecasters predicted more snow on the way for Erie, Pa., and warned Canada's Atlantic region to expect the weather system to move in on Wednesday.

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch said the winter weather made roads and bridges in southern Ohio treacherous, causing a spate of overnight traffic accidents. One incident on Interstate 270 involved about 20 vehicles.

A motorist was killed in a weather-related crash in Pittsburgh early Tuesday while a Blairsville, Pa., police officer was injured when his car hit a pickup truck that had crashed on a slippery bridge, WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh reported.

North Carolina police reported plenty of fender-benders as well but ski resort operators in the state's western mountains informed The Charlotte (N.C) Observer that they planned to open as early as this weekend.