A fierce storm has lashed the north-east in the US, with widespread power outages amid the hurricane-force winds and heavy snow.
With spring tantalisingly in their grasp, many residents were left shaking their heads - and wielding shovels they had hoped would not be needed again - after the third major storm in two weeks buried some towns beneath 60cm of snow on Tuesday.
"The groundhog was right. Six more weeks of winter, and probably then some," said Paul Knight, of Portland, Maine.
High winds and blowing snow led meteorologists to categorise the storm as a blizzard in parts of New England, including Boston. Gusts approached 112km/h on Cape Cod, the weather service said.
At one point, more than 250,000 people were without power in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Utility companies said they would have extra crews out on Wednesday to restore power to those still without it.
Amtrak suspended all service on Tuesday between Boston and New York City. The railroad later announced that most services between the two cities would resume on Wednesday.
Road and air travel also was disrupted: Slick roads were blamed for at least one death in North Carolina, and flight-tracking site FlightAware reported more than 1500 cancelled flights.
Australian Associated Press