A winter storm that buried much of the East Coast dumped a foot of snow on some parts of southern Maine, wreaking havoc on highways Tuesday and causing delays for air travelers.

More than 80 flights were canceled at the Portland International Jetport, leaving dozens of travelers stranded. Some were told they would not be able to leave until late in the week.

“It’s a madhouse. A lot of people are trying to get out and get rescheduled. The problem we’re running into is the flights are pretty well booked up,” said Jeff Monroe, the city’s transportation director.

On highways, state police were busy responding to reports of dozens of vehicles that skidded off Interstate 95.

A few of the vehicles rolled over and there were a couple of injuries in crashes in the Plymouth-Hampden area, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

“Most of the vehicles are just going too fast for conditions,” McCausland said, noting that the speed limit on much of I-95 and the Maine Turnpike had been lowered to 45 mph.

Schools were unaffected because of school vacation week, but there were concerns about sports teams being able to travel to Bangor and Augusta, where the state high school basketball tournaments were being held.

On Tuesday, the heaviest snowfall was recorded in York County with 10 inches in Saco, 14 inches at Biddeford and 7 inches in Sanford. South Portland received 7 inches and Portland 5 inches.

The storm marked the first significant snowfall in southern Maine since Portland received about 9 inches Jan. 4.

Southern Maine missed the blizzard two weeks ago that left 15 to 20 inches of snow across portions of Aroostook County.

“We have had a significant dry spell with the cold weather,” said Steve Broumas of the National Weather Service in Gray.

The slow-moving storm was part of a huge system that caused blizzard conditions in the Northeast, dumping 2 feet of snow in areas to the south, including parts of Maryland and West Virginia.

Bangor International Airport was affected by the storm, but not because of local conditions, according to airport director Rebecca Hupp.

“The snow wasn’t really an issue here, but we’ve had a couple of flights diverted here because they couldn’t land at other airports, like Baltimore,” Hupp said Tuesday afternoon.

Departures also were affected at BIA because of the conditions at other airports around the eastern seaboard. Hupp said there were “a number” of canceled flights Tuesday. She said she could not speculate on when a normal flight schedule would resume.

Those travelers scheduled to fly out of BIA should either call their airline or visit www.flybangor.com.

The travel picture in Maine was expected to improve as airports to the south reopened and as plows removed snow from roads.

By Tuesday afternoon, air traffic was picking up at the Portland International Jetport, which never officially closed. The flight delays there also were caused by snow at other East Coast airports.

Typically, snowstorms move fast and affect just a few airports at a time. But this one brought down airports in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, then Philadelphia, New York and Boston. All the while, the runways in Portland were clear even though there were few incoming flights, Monroe said.

“The airport never closed. As usual, our airfield is one of the best-kept in the Northeast,” he said.