Metro

Early snow pelts East Coast, cuts power to 2M-plus

An unusually early and powerful nor’easter dumped wet, heavy snow Saturday from the mid-Atlantic to New England, toppling leafy trees and power lines and knocking out electricity to more than 2 million homes and businesses.

Communities inland were getting hit hardest, especially western Massachusetts. Windsor, Mass., had received 26 inches by early Sunday, and nearby Plainfield saw 24½ inches, and Savoy received 24 inches. West Milford, N.J., about 45 miles northwest of New York City, had received 19 inches of snow by early Sunday. New York City’s Central Park set a record for both the date and the month of October with 1.3 inches of snow.

More than 2.3 million customers lost power from Maryland north through Massachusetts, and utilities were bringing in crews from other states to help restore it. More than 700,000 residents in Connecticut, 600,000 in New Jersey and a half-million in Pennsylvania were without power. The totals included New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. By early Sunday, the storm had vacated Pennsylvania and was tracking northeast.

PHOTOS: SNOW SOCKS NY

Throughout the region, officials had warned that the early storm would bring sticky snow on the heels of the week’s warmer weather and could create dangerous conditions. New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts declared states of emergencies, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for 13 counties. At least three deaths have been blamed on the storm.

“It’s a little startling. I mean, it’s only October,” said Craig Brodur, who was playing keno with a friend at Northampton Convenience in western Massachusetts, which had received about 4 inches of snow by Saturday night.

And the storm was expected to worsen as it swept north. The heaviest snowfall was forecast for later in the day into Sunday in the Massachusetts Berkshires, the Litchfield Hills in northwestern Connecticut, southwestern New Hampshire and the southern Green Mountains. Wind gusts of up to 55 mph were predicted especially along coastal areas.

Some said that even though they knew a storm was coming, the severity caught them by surprise.

“This is absolutely a lot more snow than I expected to see today. I can’t believe it’s not even Halloween and it’s snowing already,” Carole Shepherd of Washington Township, N.J., said after shoveling her driveway.

The storm disrupted travel along the Eastern Seaboard. Philadelphia International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport all had hourslong delays Saturday. Amtrak suspended service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa., and commuter trains in Connecticut and New York were delayed or suspended because of downed trees and signal problems.

Residents were urged to avoid travel altogether. Speed limits were reduced on bridges between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A few roads closed because of accidents and downed trees and power lines, and more were expected, said Sean Brown, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The storm came on a busy weekend for many, with trick-or-treaters going door-to-door in search of Halloween booty, hunting season opening in some states and a full slate of college and pro football scheduled.

Parts of New York saw a mix of snow, rain and slush that made for sheer misery at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City, where drenched protesters hunkered down in tents and under tarps as the plaza filled with rainwater and melted snow.

Technically, tents are banned in the park, but protesters say authorities have been looking the other way, even despite a crackdown on generators that were keeping them warm.

“I want to thank the New York Police Department,” said 32-year-old protester Sam McBee, decked out in a yellow slicker and rain pants. “We’re not supposed to have tents. We’re not supposed to have sleeping bags. You go to Atlanta, they don’t have it. You go to Oakland, you don’t have it. And we got it.”

Nick Lemmin, 25, of Brooklyn, was spending his first night at the encampment. He was one of a handful of protesters still at the park early Sunday.

“I had to come out and support,” he said. “The underlying importance of this is such that you have to weather the cold.”

October snowfall is rare in New York, and Saturday marked just the fourth October day with measurable snowfall in Central Park since record-keeping began 135 years ago, the National Weather Service said.

Along the coast and in such cities as Boston, relatively warm water temperatures could keep the snowfall totals much lower, meteorologist Bill Simpson said, with 1 to 3 inches of snowfall forecast along the I-95 corridor. Washington received a trace of snow, tying a record for the date set in 1925.

The heaviest snow in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine was set to fall overnight. Parts of southern Vermont could receive more than a foot.

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

Boo! The pre-Halloween snowstorm is no treat for this pedestrian using an umbrella as a shield during today's early storm.

Boo! The pre-Halloween snowstorm is no treat for this pedestrian using an umbrella as a shield during today’s early storm. (ZUMAPRESS.com)