Fallen trees, closed roads, you name it -- commuters felt the pain

While many commuters left work early yesterday in hope of beating the brunt of the storm, they were stalled for hours by blinding weather conditions, reports of spinouts, and accidents on state highways and thoroughfares.

Across the state yesterday afternoon, commuters faced snarled traffic, closed highways, and streets blocked by fallen utility poles, trees, and street signs.

''It's like a parking lot here," said Officer Steve O'Brien of the Barnstable police, describing conditions on Cape Cod. ''There are trees down. There are accidents. It's a big mess."

By 7 p.m. yesterday, major highways were gridlocked in areas along Route 128 north and Interstate 93 south.

In Boston, students dismissed at 3:30 p.m. were still heading home on school buses nearly four hours later, said Michael Contompasis, chief operating officer of Boston public schools. At 7 p.m., he was fielding calls to school transportation personnel while he was stuck in traffic.

''We're making sure that all of these kids get home," Contompasis said. ''It's going to be slow."

By 7:30 p.m., State Police and Massachusetts Highway Department officials were still working to clear up accidents.

''Throughout the state, some people were in the position where they got stuck and had to abandon their vehicles," said Trooper Tom Ryan, State Police spokesman.

''There was an hour-and-a-half period when you just had blinding snow, and rightfully so, people had to slow down," said Mass. Highway spokesman Jon Carlisle, adding that there were more than 3,600 pieces of equipment on state roads.

Along the Massachusetts Turnpike, state troopers enforced 40 mile-per-hour speed limits, and 160 plows were in full force, said Turnpike Authority spokesman Tom Farmer.

At midafternoon yesterday, snow was falling at 2 to 4 inches an hour, and portions of Route 9 were closed near Hammond Pond Parkway because of a fallen tree, said State Police.

The left lane of Route 3 on the Duxbury-Kingston line was also closed for a short time because of a fallen highway sign, and a fallen utility pole increased traffic woes on Fresh Pond Parkway in Cambridge.

By the time the storm ended, there were four tractor-trailers that had jackknifed: in Charlton on the Mass. Pike, in Franklin on Interstate 495, in Newton on Route 128, and in Topsfield on Interstate 95.

''I can't even give you a number on how many cars went off the road today," said Trooper Veronica Dalton, a State Police spokeswoman. None of the accidents caused any serious injuries or damage, she said.

In Boston, it took Don Covey, 45, and Keith Covey, 44, about an hour yesterday afternoon to maneuver their flower delivery truck from the South End to Downtown Crossing, where they scrambled to unload long-stemmed red roses, white orchids, and evergreen arrangements for an event at Locke-Ober that evening.

''When you could see 20 feet in front of you, it wasn't that bad," Keith Covey said. ''It hasn't been this bad since '78."

In Cambridge, Josh Gately, 31, a bike messenger, was forced to walk for about an hour in the early afternoon when the winds picked up. ''I had snow accumulation on my glasses," he said, cradling a cup of coffee in Downtown Crossing as the snow began tapering off. ''You couldn't see."

Renee Barton, 25, left her job in the Financial District at midafternoon to head home to Dorchester. ''It's probably one of the most interesting storms," she said. ''It's been thundering, lightning, raining, hailing, snowing, doing a little bit of everything."

Tracy Jan of the Globe staff contributed to this report.