Big winter storm hits East Coast, disrupts travel

Another round of snowy weather hit the eastern United States Monday, closing schools, disrupting thousands of flights and hurting travel plans for people trying to return home from the Super Bowl football championship in the New York City area.

The snow could total eight inches in Philadelphia and New York, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

By midday, the flight-tracking website FlightAware reported nearly 2,000 delayed flights and 1,500 canceled flights nationwide in states including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Inbound flights to Newark, LaGuardia and Kennedy airports were delayed two to three hours because of snow and ice.

The storm hit greater New York just a day after the Super Bowl.

Forecasters expected the snow to taper off by early afternoon. However, another storm is likely to hit the same region beginning Tuesday night, bringing a combination of rain, freezing rain and snow.

Jalelah Ahmed, weather anchor and producer for Al Jazeera America, said: "A slow-moving winter storm is slated to dump another round of heavy wet snow Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The NWS has already issued winter storm warnings and advisories from Denver to New England." 

Oklahoma City is expected to see 3 to 5 inches of snow, while storms are predicted to move into the Midwest and New England Tuesday night and Wednesday. Along a long stretch of I-70 and I-80, from Cleveland to Chicago, up to a foot of snow may fall. 

Ahmed added: "The storm will crawl towards the I-95 corridor Tuesday night, bringing the threat for freezing rain and sleet to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. In New York City, Boston, Hartford and Portland Maine, 3 to 8 inches can be expected. Travel will be tricky late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning as roadway conditions rapidly deteriorate. Northwesterly winds will greatly help to diminish visibilities and create white-out conditions."

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press. Jalelah Ahmed contributed to this report.