Meteorologists are predicting up to a foot of snow will fall in the New Haven area this weekend as many students attempt to return to campus for the beginning of the spring semester on Monday.

Snow began to fall around midday Saturday, and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for New Haven County from 5 p.m. until noon on Sunday. The weather service said heavy snowfall would continue through the night, blanketing southern Connecticut with 6 to 9 inches of snow in total.

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Forecasts by local meteorologists called for snowfall in the same range. Geoff Fox of WTNH predicted late Friday night that up to a foot of snow would accumulate by midday Sunday.

At Bradley International Airport, “a couple” of flights had already been canceled as of 6:30 p.m., an hour after light snow began to fall, said Rollin Tebbetts, the operations manager for the airport. Tebbetts added “it was too early to tell” how many flights will be canceled by the end of the night, though he said the airport is doing well so far handling the snow.

An official at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport declined to comment on how the snowy weather is impacting operations. But as of 7:45 p.m., no flights at Tweed had been affected by the storm, according to a spokesman for US Airways.

In New Haven, City Hall issued a parking ban for all of downtown from 4 p.m. until 10 a.m. Sunday.

This is the second time a snowstorm has hindered Elis’ travel plans in as many months. On Dec. 19, the second-to-last day of the fall semester exam period, New Haven was hit with its first major snowfall of the year. Dozens of flights were canceled at Bradley International Airport, and more than 600 were grounded at New York City-area airports.

Victor Zapana contributed reporting.