A late winter storm that blasted much of Atlantic Canada and the northeastern U.S. left travellers stranded and is responsible for numerous traffic deaths south of the border.

The blizzard dumped snow on much of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, and stretched from Maryland to Maine in the U.S.

In Moncton, close to 10 centimetres of snow fell followed by freezing rain.

After the snow subsided, Environment Canada's issued rainfall and wind warnings Saturday morning for most of the Atlantic region with up to 40 millimetres of rain expected in some areas.

"It's a mess of snow, but it will all be gone. I'm not too worried about it," snowplow driver Neil Geldhart told CTV Atlantic.

However, authorities are cautioning drivers to take extra care while on the roads.

"Right now the roads are pretty greasy and we're encouraging people to drive safely," Const. Guy Dupuis told CTV.

"Make sure you keep a safe distance between vehicles One of the other main things is, clean your car off before you take off, just in case so you can make sure you see where you're going, who is behind you and who is beside you," Dupuis said.

Flights delayed

While driving conditions are less than favorable, air travel was much worse. Numerous flights were cancelled in Toronto, Montreal, Moncton and Halifax international airports.

Air traffic at the Stanfield International airport in Halifax came to a virtual halt on Saturday morning.

Passenger Allan Upton was trying to get to Florida when his flight was cancelled.

"Just to get to Toronto is the big thing. They've cancelled all the flights that they rebooked us on today; they cancelled them all," Upton told CTV Atlantic.

Montreal also received a lashing from the severe system, but residents there say March weather is always unpredictable.

"I'd say until the end of March we can expect anything here in Quebec," one resident told CTV Montreal.

Environment Canada said the city fared much better than other parts of the province.

"In the eastern townships, that's where they got 30-plus centimetres of snow," Rene Heroux, a spokesperson from Environment Canada told CTV Montreal.

While some reveled in the winter white, city crews worked well into the night to ensure the St. Patrick's Day parade would be able to take place.

The parade has been a tradition in Montreal since 1824 and has never been cancelled in its 183 years.
Despite the subzero temperatures, Irish enthusiasts took to the streets to celebrate.

"We're frost-bitten Canadian boys, we can deal with anything," said one parade spectator.

U.S. reeling after storm

The eastern U.S. was the hardest hit by the winter wallop. The snow, sleet and rain closed schools and treacherous roads caused numerous deaths in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.

More than 15 centimetres of snow fell on New York during the storm.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded overnight on planes that couldn't take off at New York's Kennedy airport.

The exact number of planes stranded is unknown, but frustrated passengers reported problems with a number of airlines.

A shortage of de-icing fluid may be linked to the problems.

One passenger said he was held on a Cathay Pacific Airways jet for almost 10 hours on Saturday until he was told the flight was cancelled around 9:30 a.m.
 
"You can't keep your passengers on the plane for 9� hours," Rahul Chandran told the Associated Press. "They kept saying 'half an hour more, 45 minutes more.' But by the time it got to hour six, we were pretty much accepting that we weren't going to go ... At least in the terminal, you can get up and walk around."

In total, more than 1,400 flights were cancelled.
Annual St. Patrick's Day parades were also cancelled in parts of the eastern U.S., with the exception of New York, which was expected to attract up to two million spectators.

The low pressure system that caused so much damage is now expected to travel to parts of northern Quebec and Maine on Sunday.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jodi Cooke, CTV Montreal's Maya Johnson and The Associated Press