Nearly 1.5M lose power in Oct. snow storm

October 29, 2011 7:17 AM


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-20127407/nearly-1.5m-lose-power-in-oct-snow-storm/

CBS/AP) Last Updated 6:26 p.m. ET


A powerful storm system bringing a mix of rain and snow chugged up the East Coast, knocking out power to nearly a half-million customers Saturday. The nor'easter is expected to dump up to 10 inches or more throughout the region, and the unseasonably early snow has already broken records in New York City.Most of those without power are in Pennsylvania. Utilities there say 428,000 customers have lost power - more than 160,000 are in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

In Connecticut, utilities reported more than 125,000 without service.

In New York, sporadic power outages are centered near Poughkeepsie and Newburgh.

Half a million are without power in New Jersey, including Gov. Chris Christie, who declared a state of emergency.

Spokesman Todd Meyers says Potomac Edison, the dominant utility in western Maryland, had more than 26,000 outages.

Flight delays are reported of three hours at Philadelphia International Airport; five hours at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia in New York City; and six hours at Newark Liberty. Teterboro Airport in New Jersey is closed.

The National Weather Service said that as of 2 p.m. today Central Park recorded 1.3 inches of snowfall - the most to fall there in October since snowfall records were kept beginning in 1869.

Forecasters say New York could see up to four inches.

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The heavy, wet snow combined with fully leafed trees could lead to downed tree branches and power lines, resulting in numerous power outages, officials said.

West Penn Power reports Saturday afternoon about 16,000 customers are without power in Pennsylvania. In Maryland 27,000 Potomac Edison customers are without power. In West Virginia, outages are affecting nearly 26,000 Mon Power customers.

CBS "Early Show" meteorologist Addison Green reports that 12 states are currently under a Winter Storm Warning, spanning from Virginia and West Virginia up to Maine.

Almost a foot of snow was reported in Snowshoe Mountain, W.Va., with 11" as of 2 p.m. Central Pennsylvania has seen half a foot around State College and about 2-4" near Harrisburg.

Snow is continuing to melt as it comes down and hit the ground but as it does so, it is also cooling the ground, so snow will start sticking and piling up as the storm system tracks to the northeast along the coast.

For instance, Hartford, CT could see around 8" fall from the sky, but only about half of that will stick and pile up on the ground.

The rain just started to come down in Boston and they could see an inch or so of snow once the precipitation changes over later in the overnight hours.

Further up in New Hampshire, it is just cloudy, but rain will quickly move in for places like Concord and Portsmouth and then change over to snow by 9 tonight.

Records for snow could be broken up and down the I-95 corridor.

For the month of October, Philadelphia saw a record breaking 2.1" back in 1979 and Boston just over an inch (1.1") in 2005.


Here are some forecast snowfalls in the East:

Philadelphia - 1-3"
New York City - 4-6"
Albany - 2-4"
Pittsfield, Mass. - 5-7"
Scranton, Pa. - 3-5"
Worcester, Mass. - 6-8"

The other problem with this storm is the wind. A 30 mph wind gust was reported in LaGuardia Airport earlier in the day, 33 mph in Atlantic City, N.J, 31 mph at Logan International in Boston, and 24 mph in New York City.

A High Wind Warning with wind gusts of 40-60 mph is reported for Cape Cod, eastern Mass., most of Rhode Island and the eastern half of Long Island later this evening and in the overnight hours.

By tomorrow morning, the storm system will be east of Maine where Portland and Bar Harbor will be dealing with wet, heavy snow and wind gusts over 40 mph.

Relatively warm water temperatures along the Atlantic seaboard could keep the snowfall totals much lower along the coast and in cities such as Boston, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson said, with 1 to 3 inches of snowfall forecast along the I-95 corridor.

October snowfall records could be broken in parts of southern New England, especially at higher elevations, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson said. The October record for southern New England is 7.5 inches in Worcester in 1979.

More than 6 inches of snow could accumulate in parts of Maine on Saturday. Parts of southern Vermont could receive more than a foot of wet snow Saturday into Sunday.

In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned residents that they could lose power due to the anticipated wet, heavy snow.

In Pennsylvania, snow was falling in Allentown and Reading in the eastern part of the state. Philadelphia has seen mostly rain with a few drifting flakes, but that is expected to turn to snow as temperatures fall, the weather service said.

Philadelphia was expected to get 1 to 3 inches, its first measurable October snow since 1979 -- with 2 to 4 inches in some suburbs, meteorologist Mitchell Gaines said.

Allentown is expected to see 4 to 8 inches, likely to break the city's October record of 2.2 inches on Halloween in 1925.

"This is very, very unusual," said John LaCorte, a National Weather Service meteorologist in State College, Pa., where heavy snow was falling Saturday morning.

LaCorte said the last major widespread snowstorm to hit Pennsylvania this early was in 1972.

"It's going to be very dangerous," he added.

Rain and snow are expected to fall most of the day Saturday in New York City, with just snow falling overnight. Forecasters predict 2 to 4 inches will accumulate.

October snowfall is rare in New York; there have been just three October days with measurable snowfall in Central Park in the last 135 years when record-keeping began, according to the National Weather Service. The largest on record was in 1925 when eight-tenths of an inch fell in Central Park.

In New England, the first measurable snow usually falls in early December, and normal highs for late October are in the mid-50s.

"This is just wrong," said Dee Lund of East Hampton, who was at a Glastonbury garage Friday getting four new tires for her car before a weekend road trip to New Hampshire.

Lund said that after last winter's record snowfall, which left a 12-foot snow bank outside her house, she'd been hoping for a reprieve.

But not everyone was lamenting the unofficial arrival of winter.

Two Vermont ski resorts, Killington and Mount Snow, planned to start the ski season early by opening one trail each over the weekend, thanks to the recent snow and cold.


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