Massive winter storm roars into Northeast after dropping rare snow on South -- live updates

Residents across a huge swath of the U.S. were hunkered down as a massive winter storm packing snow, ice and high winds, followed by possible record-breaking cold, moved up the Eastern Seaboard. The worst conditions were expected from the Carolinas to Maine.

The massive storm began two days ago in the Gulf of Mexico, first hitting the Florida Panhandle. It has prompted thousands of canceled flights, shuttered schools and businesses and sparked fears of coastal flooding and power outages.

Wind gusts of 50 mph to 60 mph, strong enough to cause downed trees and power lines, are predicted in places where the National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings. They include the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes parts of Delaware, Virginia and Maryland; coastal New Jersey; eastern Long Island, New York; and coastal eastern New England.

After the storm, a wave of bracing cold is forecast to hit much of the Northeast.

The storm dumped snow in Tallahassee, Florida, Wednesday -- that city's first snow in nearly three decades -- before slogging up the Atlantic coast and smacking Southern cities such as Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina, with a rare blast of snow and ice.

Follow along with updates below as the storm works its way up the coast. All times Eastern unless otherwise indicated.
the storm works its way up the coast. All times Eastern unless otherwise indicated.

7:25 a.m. Toll on air travel
Airlines cancelled 2,944 flights Thursday out of 27,224 scheduled to, from and within the U.S., according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. Most impacted was Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, which has 856 flights cancelled (68 percent of those schefduled) and 9 flights delayed more than 15 minutes.

Carriers have already scrapped 154 flights scheduled for Friday in the U.S.

5:27 a.m. Power outages spreading
Some 77,000 homes and businesses reported losing electricity late Wednesday and early Thursday in Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. Most were attributed to the storm.

4:03 a.m. Brrrr: Baby, it's gonna get cold(er) outside
The lead meteorologist  at CBS West Palm Beach, Florida affiliate WPEC-TV, Jeff Berardelli, says the storm will go down as one of the strongest non tropical cyclones ever along the Eastern Seaboard. Barometric pressure is forecast to drop near or below that of Superstorm Sandy. While 12-18-plus inches of snow on Long Island and eastern New England will be impressive, the cold behind the system will be even more impressive. Friday and Saturday morning will see the mercury at or below zero from New York City north, with wind chills of minus-20 degrees near New York City and minus-50 in the mountains of northern New England.