A major storm slammed the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states Sunday with nearly 2 feet of windblown snow, nearing record levels as it blacked out thousands of customers and shut down air travel from Washington to Boston.

In northern New England it was the first storm of consequence in nearly three weeks and a welcome relief for snow lovers who were tired of bare ground. The last storm, on Jan. 23, dropped about 6 inches on Portland and Concord, N.H., but mild weather and rain since then had washed away virtually all of it.

The National Weather Service was predicting the New Hampshire coast would get 8 to 14 inches with inland areas getting 6 to 12 inches, while Maine was expected to get 5 to 10 inches along the coast and up to 14 inches in far eastern parts of the state.

The storm was the result of a low pressure system that came out of the southeastern states and intensified rapidly off the mid-Atlantic coast, according to meteorologist Michael Fitzsimmons, the lead forecaster at NWS in Caribou. The storm developed along a very predictable track, Fitzsimmons said. The position of the low pressure system as the storm moved across the southern coast of Nova Scotia kept the bulk of the snowfall along the Down East coastal areas.

In Maine, the heaviest amounts were falling in a narrow band along the southern coast. Kennebunk by midafternoon had 11 inches, South Berwick had 8 inches, and Scarborough had 7.5 inches.

Down East, parts of Washington and Hancock counties were hit with a vengeance Sunday when the storm created blizzard conditions.

The National Weather Service in Caribou issued a blizzard warning for coastal Hancock County and coastal and central Washington County, and a winter storm warning for southern and central Penobscot, northern Hancock and Washington counties.

The storm warning areas were expected to receive 5 to 9 inches of snow, while in the blizzard warning regions, accumulations were predicted to be as high as 14 inches.

Weather contributed to many accidents in Maine, most of them fender benders and cars sliding off roads, but others weren’t so lucky. State police were investigating a serious accident on Route 9 in Alexander. Details were not available, but two ambulances were sent to the scene.

A rollover occurred at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the north-bound lane of Interstate 95 at mile marker 174 near Newburgh.

Eric Gernelli, 21, of Winthrop was trying to pass another car when he lost control of his 1998 silver Jeep and the vehicle flipped over, according to State Trooper Scott Hamilton.

Gernelli possibly dislocated his shoulder, and his passenger, Justin Holden, 22, had lacerations to the head, Hamilton said. Both were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.In New Hampshire, Londonderry’s snowfall amounted to 10.2 inches, Seabrook and Durham had 9 inches, and Hampton and Dover had 8 inches, according to the weather service.

Elsewhere, 21 inches of snow fell by early afternoon at Columbia, Md., between Baltimore and Washington, and at East Brunswick, N.J., Hartford, Conn., and West Caln Township west of Philadelphia, the National Weather Service said. Philadelphia’s average for an entire winter is about 21 inches.

The storm interrupted a relatively mild winter in the Northeast. It also followed the nation’s warmest January on record, when the average temperature was 39.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 8.5 degrees above average, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The old record for January was 37.3 degrees set in 1953.

“There’s a lot of people who want to go, but we can’t take them anywhere,” said Mike Golden, a snowmobile guide at Northern Extreme snowmobile rentals in Conway, N.H. “It’s been tough.”

Radar showed snow falling from eastern Virginia to Maine during the morning as the nor’easter blew up the coast.

Few people ventured out into the storm if they didn’t have to.

“I’m just out to get some doughnuts and coffee, then I’m going right back home,” said Chris Vasili of East Brunswick, N.J. “It’s not too good out here right now.”

The possibility of coastal flooding was a major concern for Massachusetts as winds hit 60 mph, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the state’s Emergency Management Agency. Meteorologists predicted 21/2-foot storm surges from Cape Ann to Cape Cod with seas off the coast running up to 25 feet.

The snow caused cancellations and delays for planes flying in and out of Bangor International Airport, Portland International Jetport and Manchester Airport in New Hampshire.

Most airlines canceled all flights at La Guardia Airport, some of them until Monday, said Steve Coleman, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Kennedy and Newark airports.

Delta said it canceled Sunday arrivals and departures at Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn. Washington’s Reagan National Airport was closed until noon Sunday, the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority said.

Although the storm was a disaster for most, it was good news for ski resorts. The heaviest snows stayed in southern New England, but northern ski resorts were still rejoicing.

Chris Bradford, marketing director at Crotched Mountain ski area in Bennington, N.H., said southern New England skiers often won’t venture onto the slopes up north until they see snow outside their own homes.

“This is what’s going to get people from Massachusetts to come out of their houses,” he said. “I called it BBS, Boston Backyard Syndrome. That’s going to be the big boost that the industry needs.”

Warren King, a supervisor at Rocky’s Ace Hardware in Concord, N.H., said his customers seemed to be taking the storm in stride. Though he had seen a steady stream of people coming in for shovels and ice melt, no one was panicking or stocking up.

“After all,” he said, “it is February, and snow is just part of the norm.”