WINTER IS HERE

A group of men help a motorist after his vehicle was stuck in the snow near Asbury Park boardwalk during a snowstorm Thursday in Asbury Park, N.J. A massive winter storm roared into the East Coast, dumping as much as 18 inches of snow from the Carolinas to Maine and unleashing hurricaneforce winds that closed schools and offices and canceled thousands of flights.

Read more about how the cold weather is affecting Florida:

The East Coast’s winter weather has canceled 160 flights and delayed 95 others Thursday at Orlando International Airport.

Many of the canceled flights were to the northeastern part of the country, such as Boston, Newark and New York, according to the airport’s website.

The cancellations were for a time period that started at midnight Thursday until 7 p.m.

It’s the second day in which the conditions affected a large number of flights.

On Wednesday, eight flights were canceled and 150 more delayed with passengers waiting anywhere from 25 minutes to more than 4 hours, airport officials said in a news release.

Airport officials recommended passengers check with their airlines on flight schedules and operations before leaving home.

They also suggested come early for security screenings and “pack your patience.”

“The situation is fluid and operations are subject to change depending on airline crew and aircraft availability,” a news release said.

Nationally, widespread wintry storm conditions have resulted in thousands of canceled flights — more than two-thirds of flights in and out of New York City and Boston airports were canceled, Associated Press is reporting, with the flight-tracking site FlightAware counted nearly 4,800 canceled flights across the United States.

The cancellations come at the end of a busy end-of-year holiday travel season at Orlando International.

About 3 million passengers were expected to use the airport between late December and early January, up 7 percent from the same time period a year earlier.

The increase was explained by the stronger economy and the lower gas prices, which freed up people’s incomes, airport official said at the time.

JULIO CORTEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS

EVA CLAIRE HAMBACH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES A plane sits on the tarmac at Ronald Reagan airport near Washington, D.C., on Thursday. A major winter storm continues to disrupt much of the U.S. with bitter cold, heavy snow and ice, and roared into the East Coast on Thursday with hurricane-force...