Northeast hit by snow for second time in a week

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A huge winter storm hit the northeastern United States on Monday, the region's second snowy blast in less than a week, after leaving more than a foot (30 cm) of snow in the Chicago area.

The storm pummeled millions of morning commuters with freezing rain, snow and gusty winds from New York City to Boston.

Up to six inches (15 cm) of snow was forecast for New York City, where the snow and ice caused a crowded subway train to stall on an elevated stretch of track. Boston, already buried under two feet (60 cm) of snow from a blizzard last week, was predicted to see a foot.

Snow-weary residents could take little comfort from groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, who emerged from his burrow on Monday morning in Pennsylvania and saw his shadow. According to legend, seeing his shadow means six more weeks of winter.

The New England Patriots' victory in Sunday's Super Bowl football game helped some area residents take the newest snowy onslaught in stride.

"The Super Bowl had already made things great and, wow, now we get this," said Steve Pieper, 51, an inventor, walking his dog, Duchess, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

?This is the perfect snowstorm. This is a perfect New England day," he said.

The Super Bowl victory parade in Boston will happen on Tuesday despite the snow, Mayor Marty Walsh announced.

City crews were removing truckloads of snow along a planned parade route, he said.

The National Weather Service warned residents of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and northern Connecticut to expect as much as a foot of fresh snow from the "potent" storm.

Plowing crews in Maine, where nearly three feet (90 cm) of snow fell last week, struggled to cope with the fresh accumulation.

?Road crews have been up all night making room for the next round. There?s just no place to put it all,? said Betty Case, town clerk in coastal Lubec, Maine.

Further south, in Brunswick, snow piles in the town storage lot reached some 30 feet (9 meters) high, officials said.

The National Weather Service warned of "dangerous wind chills" through the coming days.

"Bitterly cold weather will settle in behind this system from the Upper Midwest to New England," it said on its website.

Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed due to snow and ice at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport and New York's LaGuardia Airport.

The storm, which dropped more than 19 inches (48 cm) of snow at O'Hare, prompted some Chicago residents to use the traditional "dibs" system to reserve dug-out parking spaces with lawn chairs, laundry baskets or other household items.

?You have to. You put time in, and time is money," said plumber Keith Glover, 32.

If someone were to move his markers and take his spot, he said, ?I?d bury the car in snow. Then they can dig it out.?

The Midwest storm had a silver lining, at least, meteorologists said: providing a protective cover for the region's wheat crop against the frigid temperatures expected later this week.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York, Elizabeth Barber in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mary Wisniewski and Christine Stebbins in Chicago, Elizabeth Daley in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Dave Sherwood in Bowdoinham, Maine and Tim McLaughlin in Boston; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)