The potent storm that brought Christmas snow to Atlanta and the Gulf Coast barreled up the East Coast on Sunday, snarling air traffic, slowing train service and threatening to make major roads impassable.

Airlines culled hundreds of flights from their schedules Sunday, after cancellations on Saturday marred Christmas Day travel plans to and from the Southeast.

Amtrak on Sunday cancelled trains between Boston and New York, Boston and Portland, Maine, and Richmond and Newport News, Va. It was weighing further schedule changes for Monday.

The government predicted 12 to 18 inches of snow would fall on southern New England. The weather service issued blizzard warnings for areas from Boston to parts of Virginia and said blowing snow would cut visibility, making travel dangerous.

The blizzard arrived on what is usually the third or fourth busiest day of the year for retailers, when shoppers are returning presents, shopping sales and cashing in gift cards.

The storm that struck the Saturday before Christmas last year cost retailers an estimated $2 billion in sales, according to Planalytics, which advises companies on weather impacts. Stores got lucky this year, because the storm came after Christmas and didn't hit the East Coast until mid-morning, giving shoppers some time in stores, said Scott Bernhardt, the firm's chief operating officer. Many retailers also hoped to make up sales later in the week.

One retail category that was hot Sunday: equipment to dig out from the snow. The Home Depot in Watchung, N.J., sold every snow blower and shovel it had in stock after customers lined up out the door.

The airlines offered passengers, without cost, the opportunity to postpone their travel plans by several days. But if past storms are any indication, customers won't be able to reach their destinations as soon as they would like.

The Air Transport Association, the U.S. carriers' main trade group, said Sunday and Monday were among the least traveled days of the 21-day holiday travel period that began Dec. 16 and ends Jan. 5. The ATA said 44.3 million people were scheduled to fly in that period, up 3% over 2009. But the busiest travel days were leading up to Christmas and after the New Year's holiday, the ATA said.

Associated Press周日，在邻近曼哈顿的East Village，人们在试图把陷在雪里的汽车挖出来。

圣诞节期间席卷了亚特兰大和墨西哥湾的猛烈暴风雪周日又侵袭了美国东部海岸，扰乱了航空运输，令列车延误，并使主要道路面临中断的危险。

航空公司为乘客们免费提供将其旅行计划推后数日的机会。但如果以往的暴雪天气有任何参照作用的话，旅客们是无法在他们满意的时间期限内抵达目的地的。

美国航空公司的主要行业组织航空运输协会(Air Transport Association)说，在从12月16日开始到1月5日结束、为期21天的假日出行期内，上周日和周一是迄今为止人们的旅游活动最少的两天。该协会说，4430万人打算在此期间乘飞机出行，较2009年增加了3%。但它说，出行人数最多的时间是在圣诞节前夕以及新年假期过后。