The Northeast dug out of yet another winter storm on Thursday that pummeled the region with between six and 19 inches of snow overnight.

The heavy, wet snow fell at dizzying speeds during the height of the storm, as much as three inches per hour at times, according to Weather Channel meteorologists.

The snow storm, which stretched from Virginia to Maine, disrupted morning commutes and kept kids home from school.

In New York, officials vowed to keep the city running despite the heavy snowfall after Mayor Michael Bloomberg, agency heads and municipal workers, came under heavy criticism for the slow response to the Christmas weekend blizzard that brought the city to a dramatic halt.

"We learn," said Bloomberg at a City Hall news conference on Thursday. "We asked the questions of what didn't work last time and whether there's anything we could do differently."

The city suspended bus service shortly after midnight, he noted. In the Christmas blizzard, 600 city buses became stranded but with this suspension, almost no buses were stranded on Thursday, the mayor said.

The city also hired more private contractors and improved communications with its truck and plow drivers, he said.

Some 1700 plows were working as of mid-morning in New York, he said. About 1500 day laborers were shoveling out bus stops as well.

"Our expectation is that by tomorrow morning's rush hour all of the city streets and roadways will have been plowed," Bloomberg said.

Commuter train and bus service from some suburbs was suspended. New York City schools were closed, only the ninth time since 1978 that schools were closed due to snow, the mayor said.

Newark International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport were closed but scheduled to reopen sometime on Thursday morning, authorities said.

Boston's Logan International Airport hoped to have a second runway open by noon, according to spokesman Phil Orlandella.

The 9.9 inches of snow recorded at the Boston airport during the storm contributed to nearly 200 inbound and outbound flight cancellations, he said.

The National Weather Service said 19 inches of snow fell in Central Park, nearly 19 inches fell at Newark Airport and 18 inches fell in suburban New Canaan, Connecticut.

The snowfall was just shy of the Christmas blizzard that dropped 20 inches on New York City.

Amtrak suspended service between New York and Boston.

North of Boston, snow accumulation contributed to a partial roof collapse that trapped two people in a vehicle parked inside a building in Lynn, Mass., officials said.

Both people were taken to hospitals and initial reports showed they had no serious injuries, they said.

Lynn District Fire Chief Lee Oliver estimated there were nearly three feet of snow sitting on the flat roof that gave way and that structural engineers would evaluate the parking garage, part of a commercial complex owned by Garelick Farms.

In weather-related deaths, a woman was struck and killed by a snowplow on Wednesday in Center Moriches, New York.

Police said the 64-year-old woman was walking in a parking lot mid-afternoon when she was hit by a truck that was clearing the lot of snow. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.