While a storm into Thursday will spare much of the northeastern US from receiving heavy snow, the storm will hit northern New England and neighboring Canada hard with more snow and wind.

The storm threatens to deposit another foot (30 cm) or more of snow in part of the region, following the general 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 cm) of snow that fell at the start of the week. Local amounts in Maine reached 40 inches with drifts to 8 feet on Monday.

Even in areas that escape the heavy snow, winds can become strong enough to cause minor travel problems over much of the northeastern U.S.

"Two storms, one from the South and one from central Canada, will merge near northern New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

The storms will merge too late and too far to the northeast to bring significant precipitation to the Great Lakes, mid-Atlantic and southern New England regions.

"The bulk of the storm will be north of Boston," Anderson said. "The worst of the storm will be from Maine to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and northern Nova Scotia into Thursday."

Enough snow to shovel and plow is in store, which normally would not be a major problem for these areas. However, following the onslaught of major snowstorms of late, there is not much room to put the new snow.

As winds increase, blowing and drifting snow will add to travel difficulties for motorists. Some roads that opened briefly by midweek may be shut down again due to treacherous conditions.

Photos: Major storm shuts down New England highways with feet of snow, whiteouts

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AccuWeather Winter Weather Center

A narrow zone of intense snowfall formed near the southern edge of the accumulating snow along the New England coast during Wednesday night.

Snow fell at a rate of 3 inches per hour in Steep Falls, Maine, in York County during Wednesday evening. Up to 15 inches of snow feel in York and Cumberland Counties in Maine Wednesday night.

While portions of New York and Pennsylvania are escaping the bulk of the snow, locally heavy snow squalls will be on the prowl into Thursday night.

Bands of lake-effect snow will set up to the lee of the Great Lakes as gusty winds bring in colder air.

The squalls have the potential to create hazards on the highways with a sudden drop in visibility and a coating of snow at the same time.

"Winds will not be as strong as that of this past Sunday night to Monday, but they can still cause some airline delays and challenging crosswinds for high-profile vehicles," Anderson said.

In the wake of the storm, parts of northern New England and Atlantic Canada will have a yard (meter) or more of snow on the ground.

"This much snow on the ground over such a large area could pose a problem in the weeks ahead," Anderson said. "Anything less than a gradual thaw could lead to flooding problems."

The weather during next week is projected to feature some days with temperatures above freezing and nights below freezing, which could slowly melt some of the snow.

The melting and freezing cycles could lead to areas of black ice on roadways and sidewalks and damaging ice dams on roofs.

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