A winter storm is dumping snow across the region, with some areas expected to get more than a foot

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ It's almost spring, but it feels a lot like winter in northern New England.

A winter storm was dumping snow across the region Tuesday, with some areas expected to get more than a foot the day before the official start of spring.

Hundreds of schools were closed and highway speeds were lowered in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

The forecasts call for 10 to 18 inches around Montpelier, 7 to 11 inches in Concord, N.H., and between 6 and 16 inches across all of Maine, where the heaviest snows were expected to fall in the overnight hours into Wednesday.

The snow should begin melting this week as temperatures rise into the mid- to upper 30s.