Visitors walk through the 9/11 Memorial in New York during a snowfall, Thursday Nov. 15, 2018. One of the first big storms of the season moved across the eastern half of the country Thursday, causing... (Associated Press) 
 
 Visitors walk through the 9/11 Memorial in New York during a snowfall, Thursday Nov. 15, 2018. One of the first big storms of the season moved across the eastern half of the country Thursday, causing deadly traffic crashes and closing schools. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (Associated Press) 
 
 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The first snowfall of the season lingered Friday in the Northeast as thousands of exhausted commuters pointed their fingers at politicians and meteorologists for leaving them creeping along highways or stuck in mass transit hubs because of a storm that left seven dead as it moved through the Midwest and South. 
 
 Some students in West Orange, New Jersey, were forced to sleep at their schools after their buses turned back, while others were taken to a diner to eat because snow-covered roads were clogged with traffic Thursday. 
 
 "Students are safe in their schools with teachers and staff. They have eaten dinner and are preparing to get some rest," a district alert said. 
 
 They were not alone in finding the ride home difficult. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tweeted it took him nearly six hours to travel a distance that normally would take 45 minutes. 
 
 Bridges and major roads in the New York metropolitan area reopened Friday after many closures caused by crashes during Thursday's storm. 
 
 Some drivers woke up in their cars Friday morning after being stuck overnight on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx. Accidents on the George Washington Bridge halted traffic on the crossing and led to backups in New York and New Jersey. 
 
 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he understands why people are frustrated that city officials were caught off guard by a snowstorm that stranded some New Yorkers in their cars for hours. 
 
 De Blasio said on New York 1 Friday that the city "will do a full review of what happened here." 
 
 A mayoral spokesman said the early storm meant that Metropolitan Transportation Authority didn't have snow chains on its buses. He said many of them had to pull over, "further clogging streets." 
 
 New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who tweeted the storm was worse than forecast, was slated to hold a briefing Friday. 
 
 NJ Transit bus passengers were told to expect substantial delays and cancellations Friday because many drivers, who inched their vehicles in the snow and ice, worked past their normal schedules and federal law mandated a rest period for them. 
 
 The delays for buses caused a logjam of commuters Thursday, forcing officials to close the doors at New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal. 
 
 The wintry weather caused a traffic nightmare on a 30-mile stretch of Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania, with numerous vehicles stuck for several hours from the Lehigh Valley to the New Jersey state line. Police sometimes drove on the opposite side of highway, honking their horns to wake up drivers who had fallen asleep. 
 
 About 105,000 homes and businesses were without power Friday in Pennsylvania, mostly in the western part of the state. 
 
 Some areas of Massachusetts received more than nine inches of snow in the storm, which turned to rain overnight to complicate the morning commute. 
 
 The towns of Topsfield, Carlisle and Billerica, northwest of Boston, were among the towns that got more than nine inches of snow, the National Weather Service said. Boston got less than three inches. 
 
 State police said a stretch of the Massachusetts Turnpike east was closed Friday morning after several tractor-trailer crashes. 
 
 Many schools in northern New England were delayed or closed after the region saw anywhere from four to eight inches of snow. Interstate speeds in New Hampshire and Maine were lowered to 45 mph. 
 
 Schools were closed or were opening with delays in upstate New York, including in the Albany and Syracuse areas. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York, Bob Salsberg in Boston, Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., and Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this story. ||||| (CNN) A strong wintry storm still was dumping snow Friday in far northern New England after creating traffic havoc that claimed at least eight lives across the country's eastern half and knocked out power for tens of thousands of people. 
 
 A mix of rain, snow and ice that initially hit the Midwest caused headaches from the South to the Northeast, leaving up to a foot of snow in some parts of the latter and widespread freezing rain and ice accumulations elsewhere. Conditions prompted school closures, hours-long delays for commuters and hundreds of flight cancellations. 
 
 Pedestrians push through a wintry mix of snow and ice Thursday in New York. 
 
 About 200,000 customers in four states were without power at 6 p.m. ET Friday, according to Poweroutage.us, in part due to freezing rain. 
 
 The snow in the Northeast was expected to end Saturday morning, though gusty winds and coastal flooding will continue, the National Weather Service said . Another cold front will drop additional snowfall from the Great Lakes to the New England interior through Sunday. 
 
 Weather-related deaths 
 
 The wintry weather contributed to traffic crashes that killed people in several states, authorities said. 
 
 A 60-year-old woman died Thursday in Miami County, Indiana, after she lost control of her vehicle and crashed in slick road conditions, the state's police said. 
 
 One person was also killed Thursday in Canton, Ohio, and another in Maryland, police said. 
 
 In Mississippi, a tour bus crashed Wednesday , killing two people and wounding several others. The bus, carrying 46 people, was traveling from Huntsville, Alabama, to Tunica, Mississippi, Sgt. Joseph Miller of the Mississippi Highway Patrol said. 
 
 The other occupants were taken to area hospitals with various injuries, Miller said. The cause of the crash was weather-related. 
 
 Arkansas Highway Patrol reported two separate incidents in which three people were killed after drivers lost control of cars on icy roads. 
 
 Traffic nightmare, airport delays in New York area 
 
 For hours Thursday, crashes left drivers stuck on the George Washington Bridge, which connects Upper Manhattan and northern New Jersey. 
 
 New Jersey State Police responded to 555 motor vehicle crashes and helped 1,027 motorists, the agency said. 
 
 "If you don't have to go out, please stay home so road crews can treat the roads," police said. "If you have to go out, please drive slowly and allow for more time to get where you are going." 
 
 The storm generally snarled traffic Thursday evening in the New York City area, with about 6 inches of snow accumulating around Central Park and in Newark, New Jersey, the National Weather Service said. 
 
 More than 8,200 flight delays and 1,900-plus cancellations were reported Thursday in the United States, flight-tracking site FlightAware.com reported. Newark Liberty International appeared the most affected, with more than 470 cancellations and more than 340 delays for flights to or from that site. 
 
 Scores of would-be passengers stood in line for hours Thursday night and Friday morning at a Newark airport terminal, waiting to adjust travel arrangements, traveler Pankaj Trivedi said. 
 
 "Bring more staff to help. There are many seniors & kids," Trivedi posted on Twitter, along with pictures of the lines. 
 
 at Newark airport Hundreds of passengers standing in queue for the last 7 hours waiting for their turn to cancel/renew tickets. Flights were cancelled by bad weather. There are 4 staff members to attend. Bring more staff to help. There are many seniors & kids #unitedAIRLINES pic.twitter.com/VMO234kih9 — PANKAJ TRIVEDI (@PankajTri29) November 16, 2018 
 
 US flight delays (5,597) and cancellations (717) were fewer by Friday evening, according to FlightAware.com. 
 
 The weather forced long waits Thursday night at Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal. The terminal, near Times Square, was packed with commuters waiting for buses that struggled to access the site. 
 
 Ajoy Singha said it took him four hours to get from Manhattan to his home across the Hudson River in Jersey City, starting with a lengthy wait at the bus terminal. He ended up abandoning the terminal to take a PATH train and an Uber ride home, he said. 
 
 For those requesting to use videos in news sites, here is the unedited full length video. Feel free to use it with credit. #NewYorkSnow pic.twitter.com/VvyITfrSXx — Ajoy Singha (@AjoySingha) November 16, 2018 
 
 New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the strength of the snowstorm took the city by surprise. 
 
 "We're going to be more conservative going forward, but the real key here is, had we had better (forecast) information, we would have told people to stay home and cleared the roads," de Blasio told NY1 on Friday morning. 
 
 "But in the end, there's also going to be times when Mother Nature is just stronger than us, and sometimes we're going to be playing catchup. And this was certainly one of those times." 
 
 New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday the storm was a "regional nightmare," and state Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti offered "our apologies to all of our New Jerseyans who last night experienced a really rough commute home." 
 
 "We got behind the storm. I realize that," she said. 
 
 Students forced to wait in schools 
 
 In Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, some school buses couldn't get students all the way home Thursday because of road closures and "unsafe travel conditions." 
 
 Drivers were forced to take them back to schools in the Elizabeth Area School District , where they were kept in a "shelter-like environment" until parents could pick them up. 
 
 The schools operated on a two-hour delay Friday, the district said. ||||| (CNN) -- A major snowstorm slammed the East Coast and snarled the busy holiday travel season Saturday as airports shut down runways, rail service slowed and bus routes were suspended on the last weekend before Christmas. 
 
 Record snowfall totals were reported Saturday afternoon at Washington Dulles and Reagan National airports -- and snow was still falling. Accumulation at Dulles reached 16 inches, breaking the old record of 10.6 inches set December, 12, 1964; 13.3 inches was reported at Reagan. The old record there was 11.5 inches set December 17, 1932. 
 
 Three deaths in Virginia were blamed on the storm, state officials said. One person was killed late Friday in a single-car crash. Two other deaths were reported Saturday as more heavy snow was expected. 
 
 Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine authorized up to 1,000 National Guardsmen to assist in responding to the storm, which dumped more than 20 inches of snow in parts of the state by Saturday evening. Virginia State Police had responded to nearly 3,000 accidents or disabled vehicles since Friday night, the governor's office said. 
 
 The storm stretched from Tennessee and North Carolina to the southern New England states, blanketing the mid-Atlantic region and the heavily populated I-95 corridor. The forecast called for 12 to 22 inches of snow in some areas. See current flight delay information on the FAA Web site 
 
 CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis said the storm -- known as a nor'easter -- could rival the Knickerbocker blizzard of 1922, which dropped between 28 and 33 inches of snow in the D.C. area. 
 
 "I don't know that it will be a record-breaker, but this is significant," she said. "This is a really bad storm right now." 
 
 The foul weather prompted an emergency declaration in the nation's capital, stranded hundreds of motorists, shut down airports, caused power outages, and threatened to keep hordes of Christmas shoppers indoors. 
 
 The weather delayed start times for two National Football League games Sunday. The Chicago Bears-Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers-Philadelphia Eagles games will be played at 4:15 p.m. instead of 1 p.m. 
 
 Chicago Bears players and staff were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore via a charter late Saturday night, after a single runway was opened at BWI-Thurgood Marshall Airport. That runway is expected to remain open for all flights, a spokesman for the Maryland Aviation Airport Authority said. 
 
 A winter storm warning was in effect for the Washington area until 6 a.m. Sunday. Blizzard warnings were issued for New York's Long Island and parts of southern New England with forecasters predicting whiteout conditions due to high winds. 
 
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 "I strongly urge everyone to stay at home and off the roads," said Michael Cline, state coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. "There are hundreds of vehicles abandoned or stuck on roads. There is already one to two feet of snow on the roads, and snow is still falling." 
 
 Similar warnings were issued by state officials up and down the East Coast. 
 
 Parts of U.S. 29, I-77 and I-81 were closed and hundreds of bus passengers were stranded at a terminal in Washington as nearly 300 routes were canceled from New England to Jacksonville, Florida, Greyhound Bus Lines spokeswoman Maureen Richmond said. Travelers stuck at Greyhound terminals are being made comfortable with assistance from the Red Cross and Salvation Army, Richmond said. See traffic and road closure information on the U.S. DOT Web site 
 
 The storm also affected rail service. Passengers aboard an Amtrak train that originated in New Orleans on Friday morning sat outside Alexandria, Virginia, for more than five hours Saturday afternoon. 
 
 The train had full power, and passengers were being given food and drinks throughout the ordeal, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said. 
 
 She expected the train to pull into Washington Saturday night. Trains were running 30 to 60 minutes behind schedule early Saturday, and 60 to 90 minutes later in the day. 
 
 Meanwhile, more than 400 people hunkered down in 20 shelters across Virginia. A Virginia National Guard spokesman said it is working with other agencies to transport stranded motorists to shelters, and is getting food and water to people stuck in their vehicles. 
 
 As snow continued to fall in the mid-Atlantic states, folks in western North Carolina were digging out Saturday from the powerful storm. More than 50,000 were without power in Asheville's Buncombe County after more than a foot of snow fell in the mountains. Crews were traveling from Kentucky and South Carolina to help restore power, a spokeswoman for Progress Energy told CNN affiliate WLOS. 
 
 In Washington, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said the storm is "perhaps the biggest we've seen in several years." 
 
 "We are going to throw everything we have at it to keep the district open for business on this busy pre-holiday weekend," Fenty said when he announced the snow emergency. 
 
 But, he also urged residents to stay in their homes. 
 
 "This snow should end early tomorrow morning with a 24-hour cleanup. We should have a lot of streets ready to go by rush hour Monday. And, hopefully, all of it done between Monday and Wednesday." 
 
 Nine people were taken to a hospital after a bus and a city snow plow collided, a D.C. fire official said. The injuries are not considered serious. 
 
 The storm also halted above-ground Metrorail operations in the district because of heavy snowfall covering the electrified third rail, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said. 
 
 Trains were shifted to underground travel, and the underground Metrorail stations will remain open until 3 a.m., the normal closing time for a Saturday night. 
 
 In West Virginia, Gov. Joe Manchin on Saturday declared a state of emergency and "authorized the use of the National Guard to assist with snow removal and emergency assistance and operations." 
 
 West Virginia is working to help stranded motorists, clear roadways, and restore power outages, Manchin said in a statement. 
 
 In Massachusetts, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino declared a snow emergency beginning at 10 p.m. Forecasters are predicting up to 15 inches of snow with 30 mph winds between Saturday night and late Sunday morning. 
 
 Crews were standing by with snow removal equipment and salt, and the city's emergency homeless shelters will be open "throughout the day and evening." 
 
 While the storm caused chaos for weekend travelers and shoppers, UPS spokesman Norman Black on Friday said shipped packages shouldn't be delayed. 
 
 "The good thing for us and our competitors is that this is happening on a weekend," Black said. 
 
 He said that packages set for Monday delivery were on planes that landed and offloaded Friday night. 
 
 UPS never has packages in motion on a Sunday, even the Sunday before Christmas. And because Saturday volume is usually light -- because delivering on Saturday is a premium service -- Black expected few problems. 
 
 That is, unless the roads are still a mess and airports aren't cleaned by Monday.
– The first snowfall of the season lingered Friday in the Northeast as thousands of exhausted commuters pointed their fingers at politicians and meteorologists for leaving them creeping along highways or stuck in mass transit hubs because of a surprise storm, per the AP. The storm left seven dead as it moved through the Midwest and South. Some students in West Orange, New Jersey, were forced to sleep at their schools after their buses turned back, while others were taken to a diner to eat because snow-covered roads were clogged with traffic Thursday. In fact, State Police in New Jersey responded to 555 vehicle crashes and aided 1,027 motorists, reports CNN. Bridges and major roads in the New York metropolitan area reopened Friday after many closures caused by crashes during Thursday's storm. Some drivers woke up in their cars Friday morning after being stuck overnight on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx. Accidents on the George Washington Bridge halted traffic on the crossing and led to backups in New York and New Jersey. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he understands people are frustrated that city officials were caught off guard by the storm and promised "a full review of what happened here." A mayoral spokesman said the early storm meant that Metropolitan Transportation Authority didn't have snow chains on its buses. He said many of them had to pull over, "further clogging streets." The delays for buses created a logjam, forcing officials to close the doors Thursday at New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal. (The opposite coast is reeling, too. Read the latest on the California fires here.)