A late winter snowstorm buried a large part of the Midwestern United States, shutting down highways and stranding air travelers across the region, according to news reports Sunday. 

Supporting teams worked overtime Sunday to recover from the storm. More than 20 inches of snow fell from Friday to Saturday on Ohio’s capital city of Columbus. The storm, which rolled in on Friday, broke the previous snowfall record in Ohio's capital city of Columbus, 15 inches (38 centimeters) set in February 1910, the national weather said.

The Ohio cities of Cincinnati and Cleveland each received about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow.

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was closed Saturday and reopen Sunday but flight delays and cancelations were expected as airlines tried to get their schedules back on track, representative Todd Payne said, according to the Associated Press.

“We will get through this. The snow will stop, the wind will cease, and the sun will shine. But until that happens we need to be smart, take care of ourselves and attempt to be helpful to others,” Gov. Ted Strickland said Saturday, according to the same source.

The storm eventually swept eastward, battering the northeastern states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and unleashing violent thunderstorms that left tens of thousands without power.

Utility companies in southeastern Pennsylvania said Sunday they had restored power to most of the 80,000 customers who were blacked out Saturday by power lines snapped by wind and falling tree limbs.

Also, wind gusted to 65 mph in New Jersey, leaving more than 100,000 homes and businesses without power, authorities said.

As much as 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow fell in parts in the southern state of Arkansas, while parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee got up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow, the weather officials said.

Photo Credit: AP