A powerful winter storm dealt a chilly blow to the Southeastern United States on Wednesday as Floridians marveled at the rare sight of snow and officials warned of icy roads and dangerously low temperatures. All the while, residents of the Northeast prepared for windy, whiteout conditions and potential power losses.

The storm, referred to by some meteorologists as a “bomb cyclone” for its sudden drop in atmospheric pressure, prompted flight cancellations up and down the East Coast and forced dozens of school districts to cancel or delay classes along the path of the storm, including New York City schools. It was expected to bring more headaches to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast overnight when New York City was forecast to receive five to eight inches of snowfall and up to 10 inches in Queens and Nassau Counties.

The National Weather Service said blizzard warnings would take effect along the Virginia coast Wednesday, with travel “very dangerous to impossible” in the highly populated Hampton Roads region, which they said could receive up to 12 inches of snow in places. Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia declared a state of emergency. Blizzard conditions were expected to begin on Thursday in parts of Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, according to forecasters.

“We’ve got plenty of bags of rock salt,” said Vic Kintanar, the manager of Waterman’s Surfside Grille, a restaurant by Virginia Beach’s boardwalk, hours before the storm hit. Workers had already closed off patio sections and were preparing for a smaller-than-usual crowd on Thursday.