If you're based on the east coast then you already know the first big storm of the season dumped up to 9 inches of snow on Friday. What you probably didn't know was that over 1,000 flights were canceled, stranding passengers and causing a backlog of pending flights. Most cancellations occurred on the east coast, but those delays also caused delays in other cities.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that his army of 2,000 snowfighters was expecting as much as 10 inches by Saturday morning - and that it would cost $1 million an inch to clear away.

The storm's impact was felt far from New York, as airports around the country were hamstrung by canceled incoming flights.

"There are no weather problems in Kansas City today, but if that plane from New York to Kansas City is five hours late, then that flight out of Kansas City has no plane," said accuweather meteorologist Tom Kines.

By midafternoon Friday more than 1,100 flights had been canceled at the region's three airports, including nearly 550 at LaGuardia Airport alone, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Steve Coleman said. Flights were delayed up to three hours at LaGuardia and up to 2 1/2 hours at John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, he said.

The National Weather Service measured 6 inches in Central Park by noon, when the storm was still going strong. Staten Island, Floral Park and Croton-on-Hudson had 8 inches and Stratford, Conn., had 9.