A massive snowstorm is pummeling the northeast United States, forcing millions of people to stay homes amid strong wind and blizzard warnings, transportation shutdowns, and school and business closures.

The heavy snow and high winds from the winter storm caused large-scale school closures, thousands of flight cancellations nationwide and widespread power outages in the Northeast, with at least 500,000 customers without power as of early Monday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.

A winter storm of potentially historic proportions that could rival the fabled Blizzard of 1978 headed into the SouthCoast on Sunday night into Monday morning, slamming Fall River with heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions. Strong east-to-northeast winds was predicted to trigger coastal flooding, especially along parts of Massachusetts.

Some areas of New Jersey have been blasted with as much as 18 to 19 inches of snow from the storm that was expected to intensify into a blizzard Sunday into Monday. Pictured here are heavy mounds of snow early Monday morning in Edison in Middlesex County. Len Melisurgo | NJ.com

A powerful blizzard is hitting Massachusetts, bringing more than 30 inches in some places, 70 mph wind gusts, and flooding concerns.

Millions of people in New York City and the rest of the tri-state are stuck home under travel bans and blizzard warnings as a fierce winter storm slams the region with heavy snow and high winds. Cellphones across NYC received wailing push alerts Sunday night announcing a ban on non-emergency travel on all streets through noon Monday because of “dangerous

Stay off the roads. That was Gov. Dan McKee’s message to all Rhode Islanders as a nor’easter with “peak blizzard conditions” shut down the state Monday. “This storm is significant,” he told reporters