March's Fierce Snowstorm Winds Down

March 2, 2009— -- For most residents along the eastern seaboard who battled a fierce storm today with record snowfall, gusting winds, deadly roads and widespread power outages, the worst is over, according to forecasters.

The massive snowstorm that barreled across the northeast and southern states will give way to gusting winds and cold temperatures overnight, according to AccuWeather.com. Heavy snowfall will continue to plague Maine and parts of New England into Tuesday.

"This is like a classic winter storm," National Weather Service meteorologist Ross Dickman said from his post on New York's Long Island. "We haven't had a significant storm like this in a little bit of time."

Airline passengers are still stranded after hundreds of flights across the country were cancelled because of the heavy snowfall. In Newark, N.J., 209 flights were cancelled, along with more than 120 in Boston and more than 400 at New York City's two airports.

Plows worked overtime to clear runways but couldn't keep pace. At Boston's Logan International Airport, more than a foot of snow forced the airport to close for 40 minutes today. At JFK in New York, 82 flights normally land per hour. Today, they were averaging a mere 12 flights per hour.

Hank Price, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, told ABCNews.com today that high winds expected across the Northeast later today would create a whole new set of snags, most in the form of delays as airports ordered more spacing between planes and extra time to clear off the runways.

Several major airlines, including American, Delta and Continental, reported that they would waive travel fees during the next few days for passengers whose flights had been canceled by the storm.

National Weather Service John Guiney told ABCNews.com that while a portion of New England may see this type of storm once or twice a season, it has been particularly hard hitting for the southern states.

Across the south, the heavy, wet snow took residents by surprise. In Alabama, five inches brought Birmingham and a number of other communities to a standstill. In Georgia, the snow weighed down trees and brought down power lines.