Snowfall totals included a foot in Tidewater, Va., and Philadelphia, 29 inches in parts of northern New Jersey, 2 feet north of New York City, and more than 18 inches in Boston.
The storm closed all three of the New York metropolitan area's airports and stymied most other means of transportation. Buses sputtered to a halt in snow drifts. Trains stopped in their tracks. Taxi drivers abandoned their cabs in the middle of New York's snow-clogged streets. Even the New York City subway system - usually dependable during a snowstorm - broke down in spots, trapping riders for hours.
© weather.com
© AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, L. Todd SpencerSnow covered branches frame a late night winter scene off of Dam Neck Road in Virginia Beach, Va. as a major storm moves out of the region, leaving over a foot of snow in its wake, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010.
© Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesResident Robert James shovels snow in front of his house in a heavy snowdrift in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Dec. 27, 2010.
© Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesDan Smulian uses skis to commute around his neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Dec. 27, 2010.
© Photo by Mario Tama/Getty ImagesSnow falls in the early morning hours in Manhattan's East Village December 27, 2010 in New York City. A winter storm is pounding the East Coast of the United States and is expected to deliver a foot of snow for New York City and New England while snarling post-Christmas travel.
© TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty ImagesNew Yorkers cross over a snow covered street on the Upper East Side on New York December 26, 2010.
© Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesPassengers climb up stairs covered in snow while exiting a subway station in New York on Dec. 27, 2010.
© Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesWhoa! A MTA bus stuck in the snow in the early morning hours in New York, on Dec. 27, 2010.
© AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, Steve EarleyEric Woodhouse clears snow around the SunTrust Building in downtown Norfolk, Va. on Monday, Dec. 27, 2010.
© AP Photo/Winslow TownsonMike O'Dea clears snow from the front of St. Augustine's church in Andover, Mass. Monday, Dec. 27, 2010.
Snow drifts across Brooklyn as seen from Manhattan's East Side in New York, Dec. 27, 2010. (Joshua Bright/The New York Times)
© Uli Seit/The New York TimesDude, where's my car?! Men point to a car stuck in the snow at John F. Kennedy International Airport while the airport remained closed in New York, on Dec. 27, 2010.
© AP Photo/Julio CortezSkiing in New Jersey? Justine Kasztelan, 17, of Kearny, N.J., practices downhill skiing on a street in her neighborhood the morning following a snow storm, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010.
© Benjamin Norman/The New York TimesSkiing in New York City? A resident avoids a busy sidewalk by skiing down a street in New York, on Dec. 27, 2010.
© Todd Heisler/The New York TimesA man assists digging out a police car that was stuck in heavy snow in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Dec. 27, 2010.
© AP Photo/David BoeA man directs people who were shoveling out cars in the Bay Ridge area of the Brooklyn borough of New York, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010. The street had been plowed, leaving mounds of snow next to cars.
© AP Photo/Seth WenigSnow removal continues at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010. Hundreds of cold, hungry and tired air passengers spent the night at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports following a powerful East Coast blizzard. Officials said they were provided blankets and cots, but some travelers were not allowed to retrieve their checked luggage, leaving them with no extra clothing or toiletries.
© AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, L. Todd SpencerGalyna Shemshur photographs blowing snow along the jetty at 1st Street on the Virginia Beach oceanfront the day after a snowstorm moved through the region. Dec. 27, 2010 in Virginia Beach, Va.
© Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesWinter sunshine casts long shadows across fresh snow following a major blizzard in Central Park on December 27, 2010 in New York City.
© AP Photo/Kathy WillensThis is just the beginning. Snowbound pedestrians use a Brooklyn street as they walk past buried cars.
© AP Photo/Mel EvansA man turns his back as strong winds blow snow across The Boardwalk Monday, Dec. 27, 2010, in Atlantic City, N.J.
© Michael Heiman/Getty ImagesA child plays in the snow in the middle of Sackett Street on December 27, 2010 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
© Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesAn abandoned taxi sits on West 73rd Street on December 27, 2010 in New York City.
.....was filled with thunder & lightening - never have i ever seen that!