A winter storm made travel torturous in the Northeast on Sunday, dropping a thick layer of snow that stranded thousands of airline, train and bus passengers and made motorists think twice about hitting after-Christmas sales.

More than a foot of snow was expected in some areas, including New York and Boston, where an aquarium had to protect — of all things — penguin ice sculptures from the elements.

A dumping of up to 20 inches had been forecast for Philadelphia, where the Eagles-Vikings NFL game was postponed because of the storm, but by early evening meteorologists said the city would end up getting no more than a foot. Parts of New Jersey, however, got walloped.

More than 1,400 flights had been canceled out of the New York City area's three major airports alone, and more cancellations were expected Monday.

For many people, however, the storm's timing was perfect: the day after Christmas, a Sunday, no school for at least a week.

Airlines canceled flights throughout the Northeast and at airports in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago and the Carolinas. They expected more cancellations Monday, but were trying to rebook passengers and hoped to resume normal operations Tuesday.

New York's Kennedy Airport was calm Sunday afternoon, apparently because many would-be travelers elected not to trudge to the terminal in hopes of getting rebooked, but it closed Sunday night, according to the website for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the area's airports. Authority officials did not immediately return calls seeking further information.

The Northeast received the brunt of the storm. Forecasters issued blizzard warnings for parts of New Jersey and New York City for Sunday and Monday. By Sunday night, 20 inches of snow had fallen on North Brunswick, N.J, and 18 inches had fallen farther south in Cape May County.

Forecasters were expecting 12 to 20 inches in most areas along the Jersey shore by the time the snow stopped.

A blizzard warning was also in effect for Rhode Island and most of eastern Massachusetts, where 12 to 16 inches of snow was expected by the time flurries taper off Monday morning, said William Babcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass.

A blizzard warning is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35 mph.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter declared a snow emergency and urged residents to stay off the roads.

In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino declared a snow emergency that bans parking on all major streets, and the New England Aquarium bubble-wrapped its four 5-foot-tall penguin ice sculptures to protect them from the wind and snow.

More than 2,400 sanitation workers were working in 12-hour shifts to clear New York City's 6,000 miles of streets. Not that Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted people to use them.

In Rhode Island, emergency officials encouraged businesses to let employees report to work late Monday, saying road conditions for the early morning commute Monday would be treacherous.

In southern New Jersey's Philadelphia suburbs, supermarkets were crowded early in the day and there was a run on snow shovels. Stores were quiet by late afternoon — though there was a line at the Red Box video kiosk outside a Walgreen's store in Cherry Hill.

The snow was easier to take for people who just stayed home.

The monster storm is the result of a low pressure system off the North Carolina coast and strengthened as it moved northeast, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm defied forecasts and largely bypassed Washington, D.C., leaving the National Mall with only a light dusting.

Travel misery began a day earlier in parts of the South, which was hit with a white Christmas for the record books.

Columbia, S.C., had its first significant Christmas snow since weather records were first kept in 1887.

Atlanta had just over an inch of snow — the first measurable accumulation on Christmas Day since the 1880s. About a foot of snow fell in Norfolk, Va., the most seen there since a February 1989 storm dumped nearly 15 inches.