Major snowstorm slams Northeast

A massive snowstorm pummeled the northeastern United States from Maryland to Maine on Monday, forcing millions of people to stay home amid strong wind and blizzard warnings, transportation shutdowns, and school and business closures.

- ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE, CLAIRE RUSH, JULIE WALKER AND ADAM GELLER

STREETS were quiet in Manhattan's Lower East Side and the Financial District.

(RYAN MURPHY Getty Images)

Meteorologists said the storm is the strongest in a decade, dumping more than 2 feet of snow in parts of the metropolitan Northeast, shattering accumulation records in places, immobilizing transit and even leading the United Nations to postpone a Security Council meeting. Officials declared emergencies, schools closed, including in New York City, which had its first “old-school” snow day in six years, and people grappled with power failures.

Even as the snow moved northward and tapered off in other areas, the National Weather Service said it is tracking another storm that could bring more snow to the region later this week.

The weather service referred to Monday’s storm as a “classic bomb cyclone/nor’easter off the Northeast coast.” A bomb cyclone happens when a storm’s pressure falls by a certain amount within a 24-hour period, occurring mainly in the fall and winter when frigid arctic air can reach the south and clash with higher temperatures.

Although it was paralyzing and potentially dangerous for millions along the Eastern Seaboard, meteorologists found themselves rhapsodizing over the combination of power and beauty.