Late winter storm leaves New England with more than 30 cm of snow

A late winter storm dropped more than 30 centimetres of snow on parts of the northeastern U.S. overnight – prompting school closures across the region, knocking out power to thousands and slowing the Monday morning commute to a crawl.

The storm, which hit the hardest in the early morning hours of Monday, dumped snow on a large swath of New England, hitting some areas that had gotten off relatively unscathed for most of the winter.

The same storm is also making itself felt north of the border. All of P.E.I. and most of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were under winter storm warnings a mid-day Monday, with some areas expected to get up to 40 centimetres of snow.

Many schools in all three Maritime provinces were closed ahead of the storm.

Dozens of flights at Boston’s Logan International Airport and New York’s JFK were delayed or cancelled. Most flights from Toronto to Boston were listed as cancelled at the middle of the day Monday.

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The National Weather Service’s Boston-area office says as of Monday morning, areas to the west and south of the city received the most snow, with 41 centimetres in Sharon, more than 38 centimetres in Weymouth and Foxborough, and 36 centimetres in Framingham and Natick, according to unofficial measurements.

Pomfret, Connecticut, had 41 centimetres and Burrillville, Rhode Island, got 43 centimetres.

A slushy snow totalling 13 centimetres fell in New York City’s Central Park, on the low end of what was forecast, but enough for Mayor Bill de Blasio to close schools and suspend alternate-side street parking rules.

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Hundreds of schools throughout the U.S. were closed or delayed because of the storm. In parts of Nebraska, dangerously cold temperatures prompted school and business closures as wind chill temperatures as low as minus 40 Celsius are expected Monday. A weather service wind chill warning extends through 11 a.m.

As of early Monday morning, thousands of people were also without power due to the heavy, wet snow including nearly 60,000 customers throughout New England.

The storm may have contributed to the death of two teens in a single-car accident about 48 kilometres north of Philadelphia Sunday evening. The driver, a 17-year-old, was hospitalized.

With files from the Canadian Press and Global News staff