A plow clears the tarmac at Newark's Liberty International Airport on Thursday after a winter storm dumped heavy snow on the northeast U.S. (Joe Epstein/Associated Press)

Flights were cancelled or delayed at Canada's largest airport, and thousands of residents in Quebec and Eastern Canada faced power outages Friday as the tail end of a two-day snowstorm pounded the area.

More than 150 flights were cancelled or delayed at Pearson International Airport and airport authorities advised travellers to call ahead to see if their flights have been grounded. Those cancellations put flights across the country in disarray.

Parts of the Greater Toronto Area received between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow throughout the day, making roads slushy and slick.

The Ontario Provincial Police said there were hundreds of weather-related traffic accidents overnight and during the morning commute, including a jack-knifed tractor-trailer on Highway 401 at Dixie Road. There were no reports of serious injuries.

"My concern is that the drivers, the motorists, have forgotten how to drive in the winter conditions, because we really haven't been faced with a lot of snow this year," said OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford.

A number of school boards north of Toronto cancelled bus service on Friday because of the driving conditions.

The storm, which knocked out power to more than a million homes in the U.S., arrived north of the border late Thursday, bringing winds gusting as high as 100 km/h along the St. Lawrence River and 70 km/h in other regions.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for Ontario, saying the worst of the storm was expected to hit Thursday morning. The snow was expected to turn to rain later in the day as temperatures rose, making for potentially dangerous road conditions.

A woman protects herself from the elements as she walks in downtown Montreal on Thursday. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

Wind warnings remained in effect in regions along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, where high winds cut power to about 95,000 Hydro-Québec customers Friday morning. The power utility said that 90,000 homes were without electricity as of 11 a.m. and that it expected to bring power back up gradually on Friday.

Thousands of Maritimers also woke up in powerless homes Friday as high winds and driving rains pounded parts of the region. Almost 15,000 homes and businesses were without power in Nova Scotia, while at least 1,500 lost power in New Brunswick.

At least 1 million lose power in U.S.

The storm knocked out power to at least a million homes and businesses in the northeast U.S., and has also been blamed for fanning a hotel fire in Hampton, N.H., destroying an entire block of buildings.

Flood warnings were issued for Maine and New Hampshire as the storm brought rain and huge waves at high tide along the coastline, turning beachfront streets into rivers in Saco, Maine.

Snow was also clogging roads and airport runways farther south, where thousands of flights were cancelled.

A tractor-trailer jackknifed on the Pennsylvania turnpike, causing a pileup with 16 other commercial vehicles and forcing closure of a 100-kilometre stretch in the hills of central Pennsylvania. Two injuries were reported.

A spokesman for New York City's three major airports said more than 1,000 of 3,000 flights scheduled for Friday have been cancelled.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the U.S.'s largest public school district a rare snow day on Friday after more than 40 centimetres fell there.

Schools were closed as far west as Cleveland and roads were closed as far south as West Virginia.

With files from The Canadian Press, The Associated Press