The worst snowstorm in three years belted Eastern Massachusetts over the weekend, clogging streets, toppling power lines, closing schools and airports, and turning a gray late fall into a very white winter.

Not since February 1978, when a raging nor'easter shut down the state for a week, has Cambridge seen so much snow--a foot or more in most sections of the city. Flurries may continue into this morning. Weather Service officials said, adding that they expect winds of more than 50 mph to whip up the snow that's already on the ground through the night and early this morning.

Harvard officials reported few major problems, although the snow toppled half a dozen large trees around the University. The school shut down in the wake of the 1978 blizzard for the first time this century; there is no chance classes will be called off as a result of this storm, however, University officials said yesterday.

In Cambridge, city workers fought against not only the snow budget cutbacks forced by Proposition 2 1/2. Working with half the usual complement of plows and shovels. Conrad Fagone, director of the public works department, concentrated first on clearing city streets; schools will not be plowed out until this morning, and as a result classes will be cancelled in city schools today.

Paying for the weekend's plowing will entirely deplete the city's snow removal budget, Fagone said. "It's going to be a very enjoyable winter," he said with a grim chuckle. "If it snows any more, we're not going to do a thing except watch it fall."

Snow began to fall in Cambridge shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday, and continued without let-up until midday yesterday, despite the confident predictions of local weathermen that accumulations would not exceed four inches.

Some areas of the state reported as much as 28 inches of snow; school is cancelled in virtually all of metropolitan Boston, and snow emergency bans on off-street parking are in effect in Cambridge, Boston and other major cities.

Harvard Buildings and Grounds (B & G) laborers worked double shifts yesterday clearing paths and roofs, but B & G officials said shortly after 10 p.m. last night that there had been no major problems with electricity, heating or plumbing.

Though some area universities will restrict classes today, it would "take an act of God" to shut down Harvard, Lawrence Joyce, director of B & G said yesterday afternoon.

Since most students live on campus, attendance during a snowstorm is easier than in area commuter colleges, Joyce said, adding that the council of deans and President Bok would have to meet to shut down the school.

Fagone said falling trees took down power lines in several areas of the city, causing temporary power outages.

In the Yard, trees snapped in front of University Hall and by Wadsworth House; several others were bent over double under the weight of the wet snow.

An old tree in the north corner of the Kirkland House courtyard split squarely in half and crashed to the ground, just hours after revelers celebrating the House's 50th birthday trekked home through the growing drifts.

The season's first snowfall seemed to stir creativity around the campus.

In Lowell House courtyard, Sophie Sparrow '82 and Collette Creppel '82 staged a "St. Nicholas Day celebration in sculpture and dance." Dancers dressed in red and yellow spun against the background of snow sculpture to the tune of saxophones and a drum.

The normal high polish of the Henry Moore statue between Lamont Library and 17 Quincy St. disappeared under a coat of packed snow molded to resemble Mt. Rushmore.

And the face of John Harvard in front of University Hall wore a mask of snow, with stones for eyes and mouth and a twig in place of a stogie.

Across the city, drivers dug out cars snowed under and then plowed in; those relying on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stood and waited for up to an hour before subways arrived, but all lines continued to function except one spur of the Green Line