[2] The National Weather Service has determined that this storm was one of the three largest snowstorms to hit the inland areas of the northeastern United States since 1940.

An area of low pressure tracked across southeastern Canada during the 12th, which brought an arctic front across the Mid Atlantic region late on the 12th.

Meanwhile, a Pacific storm slammed onto the California coast during the 11th and as it moved eastward, a new area of low pressure developed across southeastern Colorado and the Texas Panhandle.

It dumped over 6 inches (150 mm) of snow across numerous areas from Iowa to New Brunswick, including major cities such as Akron, Detroit, Champaign–Urbana, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Springfield, Peoria, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Dayton, Toledo, Cincinnati, London, Hamilton, the Niagara Region, Toronto, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Rochester, Windsor, Syracuse and Albany.

This also includes areas such as Northern Oswego County, New York, which received historic lake effect snowfall amounts in the week prior to the storm.

However, as additional energy moved into the eastern part of the country, a new area of low pressure developed near the North Carolina coast late on the 13th.

PPL Electric Utilities Corporation reported 1,542 customers were without power for a time during the storm in the Lancaster, Harrisburg and Allentown areas.

At 1:02 PM, a truck driver tells the Berks Communications Center about a seven-mile backup on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 78 near Hamburg.

[citation needed] At 10:30 PM, all westbound Interstate 78 traffic is stopped at the Hamburg exit due to numerous disabled vehicles.

On the 15th at 3:54 AM, state troopers and emergency personnel began walking miles of Interstate 78, waking up truckers who have gone to sleep as traffic begins to move.

The weight of snow and ice, on the 14th, brought down the dome over the swimming pool at the West End Racquet and Fitness Club in South Whitehall Township.

Also in Bethlehem, a pedestrian was hospitalized after a private snowplow operator backed over him while clearing the Sheetz gas station parking lot at 3201 Schoenersville Road on the 14th.

[citation needed] County Emergency Dispatch officials reported about a dozen or so minor vehicle accidents due to the slippery conditions.

The snow and ice was too much on the 15th for a dome covering a soccer field at the Iron Lakes Sports Club on Shankweiler Road in North Whitehall that it collapsed.

In and around the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan area, in Bucks County, slippery road conditions contributed to a tractor-trailer accident on the 14th on Route 309 in Richland Township.

Ed Rendell declared a statewide disaster emergency in response to the poor road conditions and ensuing highway closings.

[9] The storm left a mark on Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, which received heavy snow for over 24 hours, accumulating upwards of 18 inches (460 mm) in some areas.

The Midway total was the largest amount of snow received in the month of February for one midnight-to-midnight day since records began to be kept in 1928.

The freezing rain coated all surfaces with thick layers of ice, including power lines and tree limbs which break under the additional weight.

Instead, temperatures dropped very quickly and caused the slush on sidewalks and roads to freeze into thick, rock hard sheets of ice.

[16] The effect on much of Michigan by the storm was light, although the extreme southern part of the state was hard hit with heavy snowfall, especially the Detroit Metro area.

Due to the near-record amounts of snow in the Appalachian Mountain chain, National Weather Service officials had issued statement for a higher risk of avalanches across northern New England.

[25] In Sherbrooke, Quebec, where nearly 2 feet (0.61 m) of snow fell, several hundred students were forced to sleep at schools as buses were unable to travel in the near blizzard conditions.

[26] Severe ice caused a 50-mile (80 km) stretch of Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania between Lebanon County and Allentown to be shut down, stranding motorists for upwards of 24 hours and requiring the National Guard to be called in.

On February 16, Governor Ed Rendell called for a thorough investigation into how the state handled the winter weather emergency, citing a lack of communication and quick action as the cause of the problems, and even going so far as to taking responsibility for the situation.

Most of them were killed in motor vehicle accidents, including one in Ontario,[29] three in Nebraska, two in New York,[30] two in Illinois, two in New Jersey, two in Indiana, two in Delaware, one in New Brunswick,[31] five in Quebec, one in Louisiana, one in New Hampshire, six in Vermont,[32] one in Missouri, one in Pennsylvania, one in Virginia, and six in Ohio.

Tornado damage, rather than snow fall, caused Tulane University to cancel classes.Several elementary, middle, and high schools were closed three days in a row in central New York.

On February 14, for only the third time in school history, Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania canceled classes as a result of the snow.

[49] A global warming hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality scheduled for February 14 and a showing of the film An Inconvenient Truth at Maryville University in St. Louis were also cancelled.

In addition to significant structural damage to numerous buildings, including a dozen destroyed, 20,000 residents lost power across the metropolitan area.