The first winter storm to hit New England in 2008 came on Monday morning and brought with it heavy snow which forced officials to close numerous schools.

Last Month was the snowiest December ever for some parts of the region and the warmth, unusual for this time of the year, led to snow falls of as much as 14 inches in southern New Hampshire and areas west and north of Boston, meteorologist reported.

The snow emergencies were declared in several communities before the storm had hit and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino ordered only essential city employees to report to work.

There was heavy snow falls in western Massachusetts as well. There, the National Weather Service informed that the snow reached 9 inches at Amherst by just after 7 a.m. Pine Plains, N.Y., near the Connecticut state line, reported 7 inches, and Burlington, Conn., had 6.5 inches.

Hundreds of schools were closed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and parts of eastern New York

This time, school officials left nothing to chance, especially after the Dec. 13 storm. Then, many teens from Providence, R.I., were stuck on buses for hours by a storm that caused massive traffic jams around Boston.

Airports as Boston's Logan International Airport, and Maine's Portland International Jetport reported numerous canceled flights.

"We are open, but capacity is very low because airlines made decisions yesterday and (Monday) morning to cancel many of their flights," said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority.

There were also power outages. At least 36,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity in Connecticut according to Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Connecticut Light and Power.

"It's the issue of heavy wet snow taking down trees or tree branches, which are taking down wires," he said.

The highways were also badly hit. Authorities warned all drivers that the main motorways were slick. Several accident and spinouts were reported.