A Nor’easter is blasting the east coast as of Thursday, dumping snow, bringing strong winds and extremely frigid cold temperatures.

A blistering winter blizzard covered large sections of the Northeast U.S. in snow Thursday, canceling flights, shutting down highways closing schools through Friday and causing at least eleven deaths.

“There will be travel problems,” said Hugh Johnson, a weather service meteorologist in Albany, N.Y. “It will be very cold.”

This major storm slamming the Midwest and East Coast that started on Thursday is going to affect more than 100 million people in its path – many places with wind chills of 15 to 25 below zero, the National Weather Service said.

Snowfall levels hit 21 inches just north of Boston, and parts of upstate New York have seen about 18 inches so far, according to the National Weather Service.

Schools and government offices are closed on Friday in Massachusetts, and Governor Patrick sent a warning to all residents, advising them to stay inside and avoid the “very, very dangerous” temperatures. More than 2,300 flights have been canceled and 7,000 delayed, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.

“The snow is easy to move because the air was so cold when it snowed that it’s sort of light and fluffy stuff — but, uh, it’s cold,” Avalon “Nick” Minton said as he cleared the entrance to his garage and sidewalk in Arlington, Mass. “That’s the main part. It’s cold.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency and ordered the following roads and highways shut down:

– The Long Island Expressway will be closed at midnight at the Queens/Nassau border and will be closed eastward through Suffolk County.
– The New York State Thruway south of Albany through to Yonkers will also be shut down at midnight.
– Commercial traffic on Interstate 84 will be shut down at 5 p.m. and the entire road will be shut down at midnight.

“Mother Nature has come to wish us happy New Year,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

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