A winter weather advisory is in effect in Massachusetts today as several inches of snow is expected to fall across the state, according to the National Weather Service's Boston office. Snow is already beginning in western Massachusetts as of 8 a.m. Thursday, and it will pick up in the eastern part of the state later this morning.

Snow will likely arrive between 8 and 10 a.m., persisting into the afternoon before ice mixes in. A flip to mixed precipitation will follow in some areas, including pockets of rain and freezing drizzle, ending between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Much of the state could see up to 4 inches of snow.

A winter storm was sweeping across a large portion of the US on Thursday, bringing snow, ice and rain to several states in the Midwest and Northeast.