A man walks past snow banks in the Back Bay neighborhood on February 10 in Boston.
A major winter storm whipped the Upper Midwest early Monday, just days after historic snowfall left much of the Northeast buried and without power.
The blizzard dumped up to 8 to 15 inches of snow across parts of seven states, but saving most of its fury for the Dakotas and Minnesota, the National Weather Service said.
Snow showers were expected to linger across the area Monday.
More than a thousand miles to the east, residents of the Northeast spent the weekend digging out from a historic storm that dumped several feet of snow in the region.
Things Are Getting Better
By late Monday morning, temperatures were forecast to rise well above freezing with the possibility of rain.
"It looked like a war zone," said Jim Cantwell, a state representative for the Bay State towns of Marshfield and Scituate, where about 90% of customers remained without power late Sunday. "The devastation we have seen here would lead one to believe that it'll be days before we get power back."
About 200 people were in shelters Sunday in southeastern Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy said. And more than that number found refuge at schools-turned-shelters on the South Shore of Massachusetts, where dozens of National Guardsmen were on the ground to help local authorities and residents deal with flooding and storm damage there.
Warmer Weather -- A Mixed Blessing
The forecast for the days ahead in some of the hardest-hit areas seemed mostly a blessing.
Daytime temperatures were expected to climb into the 40s Monday in much of southern Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where rain may fall as well.
That may help melt some snow, though it could make what's there even heavier and increase the risk of roof collapses and more. There were reports on Sunday of a barn, sports facility, commercial building and other buildings suffering cave-ins, Malloy said.
The mix was also expected to contribute to a messy Monday morning commute into cities like Boston, though schools will remain closed there and many other locales as the snow clean-up effort continues.
There have been notable signs of progress, at least. Flights resumed at Boston's Logan Airport on Sunday, for instance, and Amtrak resumed limited service as part of its general ramp-up.
"We're working as hard as we can," Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee said of efforts in his state, a sentiment echoed elsewhere. "We're seeing efforts every hour."
That's the good news. But it's still hard for scores of people still in shelters, and for many more huddling for heat overnight, to celebrate.
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SOURCE: CNN
Greg Botelho and Ed Payne
