Several hundred flights were canceled and several thousand delayed by midday Saturday as a storm moved into the Northeast that's expected to dump several inches of snow on big cities and up to a foot in other areas.

Most of the flight disruptions were at the Boston and New York area airports, according to the tracker service FlightStats.com. By 4:25 p.m. ET, it had counted 446 flights canceled so far Saturday across the country, and nearly 5,600 delayed.

New York City could see 3 to 5 inches, as well as hazardous driving conditions from the short-lived storm, NBCNewYork.com reported.

The brunt of the storm was likely to hit southern New England, according to NBC meteorologist Dylan Dreyer. "It's from Boston back into Rhode Island where we'll see the heaviest of the snow," she said on TODAY.

Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel, speaking on MSNBC, called the storm a "quick hitter" that nonetheless was having an impact on air travel before it clears out Saturday night.

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