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KEVIN GUTTING

Thea Leh of Greenfield uses a cleared crosswalk cut through a 3-foot-high mound of snow on Main Street in Northampton Thursday afternoon.

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KATHLEEN DUNCAN

Jessica Bursztyn, 18, walks with her bright yellow umbrella along Henshaw Avenue in Northampton Thursday, avoiding slush and debris that has accumulated from the snow and rainfall.

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KATHLEEN DUNCAN

Jessica Bursztyn, 18, walks with her bright yellow umbrella along Henshaw Avenue in Northampton Thursday, avoiding slush and debris that has accumulated from the snow and rainfall.

Today's windy weather is expected to bring along a light dusting of snow for most of Hampshire County and will likely result in additional power outages for area residents - some of whom have just had electricity restored following Wednesday's snowstorm.

As of early Wednesday morning, more than 14,000 Western Massachusetts Electric Co. customers had lost power, almost half of them in Hampshire County. By 9 p.m. Thursday, however, only 17 customers were still without power, according to the company's Web site.

Wednesday's heavy wet snow and Thursday's torrential rain is expected to be followed today by colder weather, strong winds and some light snowfall in the Pioneer Valley, according to News 22 meteorologist Brian Lapis.

"There is going to be light snow falling on and off during the day," Lapis said. "I expect we will pick up between 1 and 3 inches of snow through Saturday morning."

The major problem with today's system, which Lapis expects will produce another 8 inches of snow in some parts of Franklin and Berkshire counties, will be strong winds.

"It is going to be gusty out there, somewhere between 15 and 25 mph," Lapis said. "There is still going to be some standing water, and when you add snow and strong winds, that could cause problems."

Lacey Ryan, spokeswoman for WMECO, said crews worked through the night Thursday to return power to those still without and are preparing for more outages today.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed that Mother Nature won't throw too much wind at us on Friday, but we hope that even if she does, our system will hold up," Ryan said.

The slow-moving winter storm packing heavy, wet snow and potentially flooding rain spread over the entire Northeast on Thursday, disrupting air traffic and closing schools.

In parts of southern and midcoastal Maine, more than 3 inches of rain had fallen, and forecasters say some areas could get more than 7 inches. The Presumpscot River in Westbrook was expected to crest at 9 feet over flood stage by Friday afternoon. The river in the flood-prone New Hampshire town of Goffstown was nearing flood stage and residents were told to prepare for possible evacuation.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at major East Coast airports.

The National Weather Service put much of the East Coast under wind advisories and warnings until 7 a.m. Friday. The agency warned that winds could blow steadily between 20 and 30 mph in some areas, with gusts of 55 mph or higher in coastal and mountainous areas.

Even coastal New England, which was seeing rain but nothing like the 18 inches of snow expected in some parts of northern New Jersey and upstate New York, was under coastal flood watches.

In upstate New York, a storm that hit the area with up to 2 feet of snow Wednesday left some 150,000 homes and businesses without power. About 49,000 utility customers remained without power late Thursday, most in the Hudson Valley.

Vermont had more than 10,000 outages.

In snow-weary Philadelphia, this winter had set a seasonal record of more than 70 inches of snow even before the first flakes fell. The city and New Jersey had only recently finished cleaning up from the two blizzards that deposited more than 3 feet of snow a few weeks ago.