Northeast begins digging out of snow
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Lovely Nicolas unsuccessfully ducks from her snowball-wielding sister Sasha outside their Middletown, Connecticut, home.
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CNN's Adaora Udoji reports the Northeast is recovering from a massive snowstorm.
Boston and New York copes with an early winter storm.
Wintry storm weather sweeps through the mountains of North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
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(CNN) -- With trains up and running and no major traffic snarls Monday morning, Boston tried to shake off a massive weekend snowstorm that hit Massachusetts and the rest of New England.
Snowfall blanketed the Northeast in the aftermath of an early winter storm that brought howling winds and deep drifts over the weekend. As much as 2 to 3 feet of snow fell in most places, and nearly 4 feet piled up in some areas.
Blamed for at least eight deaths, the storm moved off-shore by Monday morning, leaving a light snowfall and much weaker winds, the National Weather Service said.
Boston schools closed down Monday, and an emergency parking ban was in effect to give crews a clearer shot at moving snow from roads, but City Hall opened for business.
Boston Public Works Commissioner Joe Casazza said that all major roads were in great condition for the morning commute and that the number of cars coming into the city was down since the parking ban gave drivers fewer places to park.
Mall merchants were frustrated since shoppers stayed away from stores through the weekend, Casazza said.
But the city escaped major trouble, considering the magnitude of the storm, he added.
Boston's Logan International Airport was expected to reopen a second runway around noon EST Monday, 24 hours after ending a 16-hour shutdown.
With one runway open, travelers packed terminals as they suffered through significant flight delays and cancellations. (FAA Command Center)
The largest snowfall amount measured over the weekend was 47 inches at Mount Washington's base in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, and 38 inches in Randolph, New Hampshire.
Peabody, Massachusetts, was blanketed with 36 inches of snow, while 32 inches covered nearby Beverly on the northeast coast. Wind gusts hit 58 mph in Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod.
Rangeley in northwest Maine reported 41 inches of snow. Averill Park in northern New York saw 32 inches.
A spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said residents handled the weekend storm with aplomb. "We didn't have to deal with commute and schoolkids," said spokesman Peter Judge.
Still, considering the storm was a two-day event, "we got a very limited number of calls," Judge said.
However, Bill Cyr, a towing company employee, was overwhelmed with calls. He blamed poor judgment by drivers for the increased workload.
"If you can't swim, don't go in the deep pond," Cyr said. "People knew they did not have to go out, but they still go out."
The storm that pounded New England developed in the middle of last week in the Midwest and intensified as it tracked north.
The storm claimed its first fatality Thursday when a car driven by a college student skidded on an interstate overpass in the mountains of western Virginia and hit a concrete barrier, Virginia State Police said.
Another Virginian was killed in a single-car accident Friday, according to the Rockingham County Sheriff's Department, and Connecticut State Police reported the death of a woman from a single-car accident Friday night.
Also Friday, a 74-year-old man in western Pennsylvania was killed when the driver of a school bus carrying 32 elementary school students lost control and hit the man's van. Pennsylvania State Police said none of the children suffered major injuries.
On Saturday, a woman and her 15-year-old daughter were killed in Vermont when the girl lost control of their car and crossed the center line in front of a truck, according to Vermont State Police. Fifteen-year-olds can drive in the state with a learner's permit.
Also Saturday, two people were killed in New Jersey when their sport utility vehicle swerved in front of a tractor-trailer.
