The storm stretched 1,000 miles between Kentucky and Massachusetts but hit especially hard along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston, creating perilous rides home for millions of motorists.
The National Weather Service said Manalapan, N.J., got 16 inches of snow and Philadelphia's airport saw 13.5. It said parts of New York City had 11 inches.
The snow came down harder and faster than many people expected. A blizzard warning was posted for parts of Massachusetts, including Cape Cod.
Highways in the New York City metropolitan area were jammed, and blowing snow tripled or even quadrupled drive times.
"I just want to get to the Bronx," motorist Peter Neuwens lamented. "It's a big place. Why can't I get there?"
In Jersey City, N.J., Stanley Gaines, wearing just a thin jacket and huddling beneath an overhang as snow stung his face, said he had been stuck for more than an hour waiting for a ride home from his appointment at a Veterans Affairs clinic.
"I'm waiting on anything I can get: a taxi, a shuttle, a bus," Gaines said, squinting to read the destination on an approaching bus in near white-out conditions. "I didn't really pay attention to the weather this morning because there was no snow on the ground, and now — this!"
In White Plains, N.Y., Anthony Schirrone pulled over his car to scrape snow from the windshield.
"I just did this five minutes ago," he said. "But it's coming down too fast."
