We are now wrapping-up our coverage of the major storm on the east coast.

With the sun setting and temperatures dropping, mayors, governors and other officials are warning about the risks of ice developing over night.

But besides that very real danger, the storm seems to be fading.

New York saw its snowiest day in two years and in some places more than 15 in (38cm) of snow fell. Other places, though, dodged forecasts of piles of snow as the storm shifted south and east.

Thank you for joining us today.

You can catch up on major developments here.

Our coverage team included Phil McCausland, Malu Cursino, Holly Honderich, Chloe Kim, Jake Lapham, Brandon Livesay and Lisa Lambert

The Massachusetts coast and the narrow strip of Cape Cod have had to deal with wind, on top of the snowfall.

The towns of Cape Cod have seen many trees and power lines downed, but no boats have had to be rescued from the churning surf and high waves, the Cape Cod Times reported

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

We're heading into the evening here on the US east coast and thousands of Americans remain without power after a winter storm blanketed the north-east with snow.

More than 85,000 households are in the dark in Pennsylvania, according to poweroutage.us. To the east in Massachusetts, another 23,000 are without power as well as 4,000 in New Jersey.

Many New Yorkers made the most of the snowiest day in the city in two years.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Phil McCausland
Reporting from New York

Jim Hutchinson said business at his wine store in the Ditmas Park neighbourhood of Brooklyn really picked up last night as residents prepared for the snow storm. Things weren't too busy this morning however, which gave him time to clear out the sidewalk in front of the store a bit - though he couldn’t find his preferred shovel. “We'll probably have more deliveries to do today since people will be staying home. That probably is going to be the main impact. So hopefully the roads will be clear by 3 o’clock when we start doing those.”

As the snow accumulates, so does the much-dreaded slush is as well. With the sun setting, the frosty puddles on almost every corner could soon freeze over and turn into even more-dreaded ice.

Massachusetts has gotten much less snow than expected and also less than nearby Connecticut, where some places have seen more than 15.2in (38cm) of snow .

Snowfall has been light in Boston, with CBS, the BBC's US partner, forecasting there'll be between 0in and 2in (5cm) in the city.

But Boston is also contending with rain, and warnings for coastal flooding in the area remain in place.

If you're just joining us, or find yourself in need of a catch-up, here are some of the latest headlines as the US braces a wintery storm in its north-eastern states.

• Tuesday marks the snowiest day in New York City in two years, as 3.2in (8cm) of snowfall brings to an end NYC's 744 day snow drought of two or more inches in a single day

• Pennsylvania's Shohola and Sussex, towards the north of New Jersey, recorded as much as 15in of snow
• Hundreds of flights have had to be cancelled as the Nor'easter makes its way up the east coast
• Those who commute into work were urged to stay home and avoid non-essential travel, while schools in New York City and Boston are either closed for the day or will carry out teaching remotely
• In Connecticut and Massachusetts, the storm has led to significant power outages

Let's take a look at what areas copped the heaviest snowfall:

• Farmington, on the outskirts of Hartford, Connecticut has recorded 15.5in (39cm)
• Sussex, towards the north of New Jersey, has recorded 15in
• Shohola in Pennsylvania also recorded 15in

With the storm tracking east, parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island have had up to 10in.

In terms of the larger cities:

• New York City (Central Park) - 3.2in
• Hoboken, NJ - 4.8in
• Boston, Ma - 0.1in
• East Providence, RI - 4.9in
• Philadelphia, PA - 1.6in
• Hartford, CT - 10.3in

In West Hartford, Connecticut, more than 15in (38 cm) of snow have fallen. Alongside that heavy snowfall, there have been strong gusts of wind.

As the storm moves north and east, the state of Connecticut has seen widespread disruption, including the closure of more than 800 of its schools, according to local media reports.

The Connecticut Post reports, external that the winter weather has also led to significant power outages, with the largest utility company in the state reporting some 1,600 outages before 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

Meanwhile in Massachusetts, according to reports by NBC10 Boston, external, as many as 16,000 customers experienced power outages.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York

Here are two more photos on the dramatic change in views over the course of the storm.

In the first, the Statue of Liberty rises in the distance, to the right of the lamps.

In the second, the lamps have turned a ghostly white and only water can be seen beyond the railing.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York

As the storm moves north, here are some photos showing how it changed the views in Manhattan today.

In the first photo, a mostly grey and blue skyline stands starkly against the hazy skies. In the second it is a barely visible shadow.

It's around 2:30 pm eastern time and snow totals are continuing to build up across the north-east.

Here's what to expect in the major cities as we enter the afternoon.

• Snow totals could reach 8 inches in New York City, however conditions are forecast to ease throughout the afternoon
• The heaviest snow in Boston should tail off in the next hour or two, with the focus then shifting to Cape Cod
• Between 2 and 4 inches of snow could be on the ground in Philadelphia by the end of the day, with conditions also easing into the afternoon.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from New York

Evan Woolly was out in Prospect Park with his three kids on Tuesday. They were taking full advantage of an impressive sledding spot with a group of neighbourhood children.

Woolly, who is from Maine and wore shorts out in the cold weather, said he wasn’t too bothered by schools closing, as it meant he got to spend time with his kids.

“I mean, there's the convenience factor and then there's the joy factor,” he said. “It’s good for the kids to get a break because they get to realise it’s fun to be outside.”

Image source, Getty Images

With 3.2in (8cm) of snow falling in Central Park, it is officially New York's snowiest day since 29 January 2022.

Snow, once commonplace in New York's winter season, has become increasingly rare in recent years.

This ends the city's 744 day snow drought of two or more inches in a single day.

Until last month, it had been 701 days since Central Park recorded more than one inch of snow.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from New York

Bryan Sullivan, a retired city planner, has been skiing in Brooklyn's Prospect Park for the past 50 years.

He said annually he can usually ski seven to 10 days in the park, but that hasn’t been true over the past couple of years.

He blames climate change. Now a volunteer for the park, Sullivan said he has noticed the seasons shift.

“The winter is getting shorter. The hot weather lasts longer. We have things blooming now, despite the snow, that shouldn't be blooming until late March," he tells me.

"These are changes that you might expect to see over a geologic period of time and now we're seeing them within a decade. It’s a little frightening.”

On Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared snow days "long gone" since the Covid-19 pandemic. He announced that all New York public schools - which serve more than one million students - would have a remote learning day because of the snow storm.

But on Tuesday morning, students and teachers encountered a “service unavailable” message.

NY public schools issued a statement saying: “We are currently experiencing issues with services that require IBM authentication to login. We are actively working with IBM to resolve”.

Though the issue was resolved in about an hour, it left many parents irritated and wondering why the city would push to have a remote learning day - instead of announcing a snow day - when the infrastructure was not prepared.

During a press briefing on Tuesday, the city blamed IBM.

School Chancellor David Banks said they will be looking into why IBM "was not ready" to handle this capacity at the start of the day.

"IBM was not ready for primetime, and that's what happened here," Banks said. "So to say that I am disappointed, frustrated and angry is an understatement."

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter

I've just explained how these systems, known as Nor-easters, are formed. So let's take a look at if these weather events are getting worse.

We know that the greater the temperature difference, the greater the turbulence in the system and the storm gets stronger.

We also know that warmer air from the ocean can hold more moisture, bringing more intense rainfall or snowfall.

Research from the UN's group of climate scientists - the IPCC - has shown, external that Atlantic waters are getting warmer as a result of climate change. Therefore we would expect greater heating of the air above it and more intense snowfall from these storms in the future - if the temperature is cold enough.

But will the temperature difference increase? Well, that's complicated.

The impact of climate change on the polar jet stream is hotly debated. Scientists know that the Arctic is warming quicker than almost anywhere else on the planet and that could mean more turbulence or a "wavy" pathway, external for the stream, and storms shifting higher up the coast or moving eastwards.

What we can say with more certainty is that for any coastal cities or towns hit by storms, whether in the US or elsewhere, the impacts are likely to get worse - even if the storms stay the same.

Sea levels are rising due to climate change and therefore any storm will bring with it a greater risk of flooding.

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter

Image source, Getty Images

This may be the largest snow storm to hit the north-east of America in the last couple of years, but the US is no stranger to these extratropical cyclones - or Nor'easters as they are known.

Is climate change making them worse or is this part of a natural cycle?

First, let's look at what causes these storms. During winter in the Northern Hemisphere a core of strong winds called the polar jet stream brings cold air down to the US from the Arctic and then across to the Atlantic Ocean - like a reverse hockey stick shape.

At the same time there is warm water trying to move up from the Gulf of Mexico - the Gulf stream - which is heating the air above it.

As these two different pockets of air meet, it is the temperature difference between them which creates these severe storms.

So that's how the systems form. I'll explain how climate change comes into the picture in just a moment.