Philadelphia (CNN) -- First came the whiteout conditions, then came the blackouts.
Utility companies scrambled to restore power to the Northeast early Friday as hundreds of thousands shivered in the dark.
The powerful snowstorm moved out of the Midwest on Wednesday and into the Northeast a day later. It whacked a string of states along the way, dumping 13 inches of snow in Kansas, more than 10 inches in parts of Massachusetts and 4 inches in New York.
And there was ice too in some areas. It snapped tree limbs and downed power lines, causing massive blackouts.
