WEST FALMOUTH, MA — A powerful winter storm has pounded the east coast the past two days, bringing heavy snow from Maine to Jacksonville, and bringing travel to a standstill. Here on Cape Cod, heavy snow and wind started up early Sunday afternoon, with near blizzard conditions by 3:30 PM. By dinnertime, winds were gusting to 55-60 mph. The highlight of the evening that we saw was the thundersnow, which is simply thunder and lightning in a snowstorm. It rained overnight, and then changed back over to snow in the morning, so the best part is that we didn’t have to shovel anything. Conditions were miserable in the morning, as they paralyzed travel on the east coast. Airports began reopening as the snow wound down in the afternoon, but the heavy winds continued right through Tuesday.