Major automakers shut down plants in six Midwestern states and Ontario, and were just a fraction of the commerce that felt the storm's wrath.
Grain and livestock movement were also paralyzed in many areas. Wheat prices rose on worries that extreme cold that will follow the storm could damage crops. Citrus growers in south Texas also feared extensive damage from a hard freeze.
The storm, touching some 30 states and a third of the U.S. population, stretched from New Mexico to Maine as it moved toward the northeast where an ice storm wreaked havoc on New York City's morning commuters.
Chicago was set to get its biggest snowfall in more than 40 years. Some 20 inches of snow was forecast to pile up by late Wednesday. Snowfalls of a foot or more were recorded from Oklahoma City to Kansas City and Indianapolis.
The website flightaware.com, which tracks airline cancellation information, said more than 5,200 flights had been canceled in the United States so far Wednesday. That followed thousands of flight cancellations Tuesday.
"We're totally out of Chicago today; 920 cancellations in and out," said American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith. Power was out for more than 375,000 customers from Texas to New England, and into Canada.
Treacherous ice, rather than deep snow, hit New York City. The heavily used commuter rail service between New Jersey and New York was suspended due to ice buildup on the overhead power lines, authorities said. Public transportation in other major cities, including Boston, was also disrupted.
But Wall Street trading was not impacted by the storm as exchanges opened on time and many traders worked from home. Equities trading volume through midday was in line with an average to slightly below-average day.
The huge two-day storm delivered its strongest punch to the Midwest, dumping as much as three inches of snow an hour on Chicago during most of the night along with winds of up to 40 miles per hour.
CBOT's open-outcry trade opening was delayed by 30 minutes from the normal time of 9:30 a.m. (1530 GMT), but Globex electronic trading opened on time at 9:30 a.m., said Chris Grams, of the world's largest futures exchange, the CME Group in Chicago.
Chicago's two major airports canceled a combined 2,000 flights, the city's Department of Aviation said.
Among the storm-affected businesses, large and small, Abbott Laboratories, a major pharmaceutical company, closed its headquarters north of Chicago Wednesday.
Major interstate highways in the Plains and Midwest were closed and a state of emergency was declared across the area.
Major railroads, including Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Norfolk Southern, which transport commodities across the United States, said snow and ice was slowing them down.
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