PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A spring nor’easter packing soaking rain and high winds churned up the Northeast today, unleashing a burst of winter and up to a foot of snow in higher elevations inland, closing some schools and sparking concerns of power outages.

“It’s unusual, but not unheard of,” said Kevin Fitzgerald, a National Weather Service meteorologist in State College, Pa., where the eastern part of the state saw rain, and the west, northwest and higher elevations dealt with snow.

Up to 12 inches of snow was expected in the higher elevations of central and western Pennsylvania, as well as New York state, south of Buffalo. A winter storm warning was issued for parts of northeastern Ohio, where 3 to 7 inches of snow was forecast.

Some schools in western Pennsylvania were closed this morning ahead of the storm. Districts in the state’s Allegheny Mountains began announcing closures Sunday night as the storm was expected to drop 5 to 7 inches of snow by early Tuesday morning.

Much of New Hampshire and western Maine were under a flood watch today with more heavy rain expected. Up to 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected in the area, with the possibility of some creeks and rivers flooding.

However, flood watches were canceled early today for the New York City area.

Sustained winds of 20-30 mph were predicted throughout the Northeast, and gusts of up to 50 mph were expected off Cape Cod, Matthew Belk of the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass., said late Sunday.

One of the biggest concerns with the storm was the potential for power outages due to limbs and branches weighed down by heavy snow falling onto power lines.

Buffalo-based weather service meteorologist Sean Smith said the slow-moving storm could linger of the Northeast through today before moving out sometime Tuesday.

The Sunday storm caused plenty of disruptions. Major League Baseball postponed games in Boston, New York and Washington.

The rainfall was a welcome in parts of the Northeast, which is below normal for this time of year.