Northeast's first major snowstorm of the season just getting st

Highways and sidewalks turned treacherous Saturday for the millions of people living in the Northeast as the area's first big storm of the season piled up a foot of blowing snow, grounding airline flights and postponing SAT college exams and football games.

At least six deaths were blamed on the storm.

Snow fell at a rate of about an inch an hour at Binghamton, N.Y., and the National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of Maine, Connecticut, southeastern New York and New Jersey. Stiff wind blew the snow sideways in places and whipped up rough surf along the coast.

Meteorologists warned that as much as 2 feet of snow was possible today in parts of Massachusetts and Vermont. A foot of snow already had fallen by midday Saturday in western Maryland and northern New Jersey.

"What we're seeing now is the tip of the iceberg," meteorologist Roger Hill of Worcester, Vt., said Saturday morning. "The beast is going to be here shortly."

The first wave of snow struck Friday, and by Saturday highways were coated with layers of snow and slush.

Community and church groups canceled activities Saturday from Pennsylvania into Maine, and many school districts postponed SAT college entrance tests. High school football championships were postponed in Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

"Hopefully people won't go out unless they have to. There will be other weekends to Christmas shop -- this isn't the one," said Rhode Island State Police Sgt. Scott Hemingway.

Not all shoppers heeded the advice. Many jammed supermarkets to stock up on groceries.

Air travel was a mess.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at the New York metropolitan area's La Guardia , Kennedy and Newark airports, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported. Of the more than 800 landings and departures scheduled Saturday at Boston's Logan airport, 325 were canceled by midday, said spokesman Phil Orlandella.

Hundreds of travelers had spent the night camped out at La Guardia. Sherry Long was scheduled to leave at 11 a.m. Friday to fly home to Miami, but by Saturday afternoon, she was still at the airport.

The storm was blamed for at least six traffic deaths, one in Pennsylvania, one in Connecticut, and two each in New Jersey and Virginia.

Off the coast, about 80 miles south of Martha's Vineyard, wind gusting up to 60 mph caused 18-foot seas Saturday as the 72-foot trawler Miss Judith drifted overnight with its engines disabled, the Coast Guard said. A sister ship took the vessel under tow Saturday. The trawler had a four-member crew.

But in New England, ski areas cheered the storm.

"The parking lots are full right now. It feels like a midwinter weekend," said Mike Colbourn, vice president of marketing for Vermont's Stowe Mountain Resort.

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On the Net:

National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/