Another ferocious winter storm buffeted the US northeast Monday, blanketing Boston in record snowfall, forcing the postponement of a victory parade for Super Bowl winners the New England Patriots and spelling travel misery.

A storm warning was in place for dozens of cities and the National Weather Service reported Boston was hit with record snowfall of 15.9 inches (40 centimeters). That comfortably beat the previous record of 11.1 inches in the city, set in 1974.

Flights at Boston's Logan Airport were hit hard, with most international and domestic flights canceled, as the snow continued to fall and temperatures plunged to -11 degrees celsius (12 degrees Fahrenheit).

Thousands of flights were affected throughout the region, including at other major airports such as Chicago O'Hare International, Newark in New Jersey and New York's LaGuardia, according to tracking website flightaware.com.

The latest storm to bury the northeast of the United States also saw the Patriots, fresh from Sunday's gripping Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks, put back their Boston victory procession from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Boston schools were to shut again on Tuesday, but better news was in sight.

Weather service forecasters predicted: "The major winter storm that piled snow on locations from Nebraska to New England this weekend will lift away from the northeast coast Monday night.

"Strong winds and lingering snow should gradually diminish across the northeast and northern Mid-Atlantic states Monday night into Tuesday as the storm exits into the Canadian Maritimes."

The Boston storm warning was expected to be lifted early Tuesday.