Snow blanketed parts of the Northeast United States as a late-season blizzard rolled in. The snowstorm grounded more than 5,000 flights, knocked out power to over 100,000 customers from Virginia to Pennsylvania, closed schools in cities big and small and prompted dire warnings to stay off the roads.

National Weather Service blizzard and winter storm warnings were in effect for the region including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, with forecasts for up to two-feet (60cm) of snow. However, the storm track shifted and snow switched to sleet in Philadelphia and New York. Blizzard warnings were lifted in some places along the coast, and forecasts of a foot or more of snow were cut in half. But residents farther inland were getting clobbered with snow.

IBTimes UK presents the best photos of the snow piling up in parts of the Northeastern United States as the blizzard began blowing in.

snow blizzard Storm Stella
A man walks in Central Park as snow falls in Manhattan, New York Andrew Kelly/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A man walks in Central Park as snow falls in Manhattan, New York Andrew Kelly/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
Times Square is seen in the background as a man walks along West 59th street in falling snow in Manhattan, New York Andrew Kelly/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A lone woman walks through the streets in a residential neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York Drew Angerer/Getty Images
snow blizzard Storm Stella
The Wall Street bull and the Fearless Girl statue are coated in snow in the Financial District of New York Drew Angerer/Getty Images
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A deserted metro station is seen at Madison Square Park at the foot of the Flatiron building in Manhattan, New York AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A visitor walks past the Reflecting Pool on the snow-covered National Mall in Washington, DC Brendan Smialowski/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A visitor walks past the Washington Monument on the snow-covered National Mall in Washington DC Brendan Smialowski/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
Ice coats flowers that had already begun to blossom for spring, as frozen rain falls on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A snow-covered statue of a woman holding a child is seen outside an art gallery on Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich, Connecticut Timothy A Clary/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
Snow covers a caged prison jumpsuit – part of an art installation protesting against the death penalty – on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
Times Square Public Safety Sergeant Baldwin Davis photographs the snow falling in New York Andrew Kelly/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A worker clears snow in Times Square in Manhattan, New York Andrew Kelly/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
Workers clear steps in Times Square as snow falls in Manhattan, New York Andrew Kelly/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
The White House is seen in Washington, DC following a snowstorm Nicholas Kamm/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
Cars make their way along a snow-covered Interstate 95 near Greenwich, Connecticut Timothy A Clary/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A snow plough travels along a street in Greenwich, Connecticut Timothy A Clary/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A woman pulls a suitcase through snow on a street in New York Jewel Samad/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A cherry tree with branches drooping with ice-covered blossoms is seen near the Potomac River in Washington, DC Mandel Ngan/AFP
snow blizzard Storm Stella
Snowploughs clear the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
snow blizzard Storm Stella
A homeless man bundled up in blankets sleeps in a doorway in Midtown Manhattan during a snowstorm in New York AFP
More from IBTimes UK
Travel pictures