STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- A blizzard in the Upper Plains is winding down
- Monday will bring warmer temperatures and the threat of collapsing roofs
- 90% of two Massachusetts towns still don't have power, an official says
- At least nine people are killed in the blizzard across the Northeast
Did you get hit by the blizzard? Send your time-lapse videos and photographs to CNN iReport, but stay safe.
(CNN) -- A major winter storm whipped the Upper Midwest early Monday, just days after historic snowfall left much of the Northeast buried and without power.
The blizzard dumped up to 8 to 15 inches of snow across parts of seven states, but saving most of its fury for the Dakotas and Minnesota, the National Weather Service said.
Snow showers were expected to linger across the area Monday.
More than a thousand miles to the east, residents of the Northeast spent the weekend digging out from a historic storm that dumped several feet of snow in the region.
Things are getting better
Powerful waves of up to 30 feet high that were kicked up by the storm are now a memory, as are the floodwaters that covered one quarter of one seaside Massachusetts town.
Streets that had been littered with trees and about 2 feet of snow are finally passable.
And by late Monday morning, temperatures were forecast to rise well above freezing with the possibility of rain.
"It looked like a war zone," said Jim Cantwell, a state representative for the Bay State towns of Marshfield and Scituate, where about 90% of customers remained without power late Sunday. "The devastation we have seen here would lead one to believe that it'll be days before we get power back."
About 200 people were in shelters Sunday in southeastern Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy said. And more than that number found refuge at schools-turned-shelters on the South Shore of Massachusetts, where dozens of National Guardsmen were on the ground to help local authorities and residents deal with flooding and storm damage there.
Warmer weather -- a mixed blessing
The forecast for the days ahead in some of the hardest-hit areas seemed mostly a blessing.
Daytime temperatures were expected to climb into the 40s Monday in much of southern Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where rain may fall as well.
That may help melt some snow, though it could make what's there even heavier and increase the risk of roof collapses and more. There were reports on Sunday of a barn, sports facility, commercial building and other buildings suffering cave-ins, Malloy said.
The mix of snow and rain were also expected to contribute to a messy Monday morning commute into cities like Boston, though schools will remain closed there and many other locales as the snow clean-up effort continues.
There have been notable signs of progress, at least. Flights resumed at Boston's Logan Airport on Sunday, for instance, and Amtrak resumed limited service as part of its general ramp-up.
"We're working as hard as we can," Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee said of efforts in his state, a sentiment echoed elsewhere. "We're seeing efforts every hour."
That's the good news. But it's still hard for scores of people still in shelters, and for many more huddling for heat overnight, to celebrate.
Lots and lots of snow
The blizzard that struck the Northeast starting Friday was historic by many measures -- most of all, by the amount of snow that fell.
Hamden, Connecticut, for instance received a whopping 40 inches, making it difficult for even plows to get out on the roads -- with CNN iReporter Mia Orsatti saying streets there had transformed into "white, wide, soft blanket(s) of snow."
Tornado strikes in the Deep South
The tally in Hamden was the most recorded by the National Weather Service in any community, but even lesser amounts led to major headaches, especially when combined with, at times, hurricane-force wind gusts, powerful storm surges and snow drifts that buried cars and most everything else.
"There's a ton of snow, and there's nowhere to put it," said Lena Berc of Boston, where 24.9 inches fell. "So it's really frustrating to find nooks and crannies."
Nine people were killed in accidents related to the storm, including five in Connecticut, two in Ontario, Canada, one in New York and one in Massachusetts. A 14-year-old Boston boy who hopped in a snowed-in family car to get a break from shoveling ended up suffering carbon monoxide poisoning.
Many are still without power
About 270,000 utility customers remained in the dark late Sunday, a significant improvement from the 635,000 without electricity about 24 hours earlier.
These outages were the result of a combination of whipping winds and power poles and lines sagging, and sometimes snapped, under the weight of especially heavy, wet snow and ice.
The storm by the numbers
"There was a phenomenal amount of trees that went down," Cantwell said, noting that 100% of Scituate residents had no power Sunday morning and estimating it may be Thursday before all the lights are back on.
For all the headaches in New England, meanwhile, there was also many enjoying the wintry conditions.
iReporter Filipe Pereira said students Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, who were set to return to class Monday, had enjoyed the weekend storm, engaging in massive snowball fights and building snowmen everywhere. People were even skiing down one street, he said, where students earlier took a series of photographs tracking the storm over 26 hours.
The streets around the small school were still a mess, but they were no longer closed.
"People have been going all over the roads with no problem," he said.
Map, time line of the storm
CNN's Mary Snow, Brian Rokus and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report.
Northeast regaining its footing as snow blasts Midwest
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Northeast regaining its footing as snow blasts Midwest
