Residents of New England woke Tuesday to more than a foot of snow on the ground in some areas and hazardous roads following a major winter storm that caused power outages, canceled flights and gave thousands of school children a day off.
The National Weather Service reported as much as 20 inches of snow fell from the fast-moving storm Monday.
The sky cleared over much of New England on Tuesday, with scattered snow showers possible in parts of New York state, the weather service said. Cold air filled in behind the storm, dropping Tuesday morning temperatures into the teens in northern New England, with a low of just 6 degrees at Fryeburg, Maine.
Hundreds of public and private schools canceled classes Monday in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and eastern New York.
Tisha Whitmore, a daycare worker, said her employer told staff to take Monday off. She was happy the snow allowed her to spend a weekday with her 7-year-old daughter in downtown Boston.
"It's a Massachusetts winter storm, schools get canceled," she said as she walked out of a shoe store with her daughter, Amani. "It's not stopping my plans. No."
All New Hampshire Legislature events and some Maine legislative hearings were canceled. Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino ordered only essential city employees to report to work.
More than 100 flights were canceled at Boston's Logan International. Maine's Portland International Jetport reported numerous cancelations and 10.5 inches of snow, a record for Jan. 14.
Utility companies reported up to 45,000 customers lost power across Massachusetts. Power outages peaked at 36,000 customers in Connecticut.
Maine had 20 inches of snow at Gardiner, with 16 in Denmark and Acton, said Tom Berman of the weather service. As much as 14 inches fell in Massachusetts' northern Worcester County, near the New Hampshire line, with about half as much in the Boston area, and New Hampshire measured 13 inches at Wolfeboro, the weather service said.
Major highways were slick early Monday, but with hundreds of schools and many businesses closed, traffic was lighter than usual.
"A lot of people didn't come out and stayed at home and most of the schools were closed, so that, certainly, took a lot of pressure off the traffic situation," said State Police Lt. Eric Anderson. "But it was busy out there for a while, that's for sure."
The weather was blamed on at least one fatality, a woman killed in a three-car pileup at Topsham, Maine, police said.