AP PHOTOS: A blustery winter blast pounds Northeast _ or most of it, anyway

Arriving with warnings of "potentially historic" snowfall, Tuesday's snowstorm managed to deliver on that promise in New England, but dealt only a glancing blow of less than 10 inches in New York City and a whimper of 1.2 inches in Philadelphia.

Still, scenes of white-washed, deserted landscapes emerged throughout the Northeast after cautious officials preemptively ordered travel bans and states of emergency.

And a hardened New England hunkered down as the storm pounded its shores and delivered from 1 to 3 feet of snow to the region.

Here's a collection of photographs chronicling the storm.