So anyone in New England is now getting something from this weather event. The "nor'easter" is a very common event that combines several normal weather elements. Essentially it is a low pressure system. For us in the mid-latitudes (30-60 degrees north), the prevailing winds come from the west (westerlies to be exact). The nor'easter means winds come from the northeast. Winds always are named from the source region.
Since winds spiral toward a low pressure system in a counter clockwise direction (for us in the northern hemisphere) and since the low is moving eastward into the Atlantic Ocean, the low pressure is driven by the cold winds from Canada, and mixing with the wet air from the Atlantic and the result is the snow today.
For a more complete explanation see http://www.noaa.gov/features/03_protecting/noreasters.html
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