A widespread half-foot of snowfall with locally higher amounts is expected from an approaching new winter storm. The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for inland and northern areas and winter storm advisories for areas farther south from nightfall Saturday,

Snow totals varied across the state, with accumulations approaching as high as 2.5 inches along and north of Route 2, forecasters said.

A winter storm on Thursday is expected to drop a half-foot of snow across the region and cause messy driving conditions. Snow began falling in the Portland area by late morning and is expected to pick up in intensity throughout the afternoon.