New England stunned by major snowstorm

A SNOWSTORM with a ferocity more familiar in February than October hit the US northeast over the weekend, knocking out power to 2.7 million people, snarling air and highway travel and dumping more than 2 feet of snow in a few spots as it slowly moved north out of New England.

Officials warned it could be days before many see electricity restored.

The combination of heavy, wet snow, leaf-laden trees and frigid, gusting winds brought down limbs and power lines. At least three deaths were blamed on the weather, and states of emergency were declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York.

The 750,000 who lost power in Connecticut broke a record for the state that was set when the remnants of Hurricane Irene hit the state in August. People could be without electricity for as long as a week, Governor Dannel P. Malloy said yesterday.

The storm worsened as it moved north, and communities in western Massachusetts were among the hardest hit. Snowfall totals topped 27 inches in Plainfield, and nearby Windsor had gotten 26 inches by early yesterday.

In cities as Boston, relatively warm water temperatures helped keep snowfall totals much lower. Washington received a trace of snow, equalling a 1925 record for the date. New York City’s Central Park set a record for both the date and the month of October with 1.3 inches of snow.

New Jersey’s largest electric and gas utility, PSE&G, warned customers to prepare for “potentially lengthy outages” and advised power might not be fully restored until Wednesday.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, an 84-year-old man was killed when a snow-laden tree fell on his home while he was napping. In Connecticut, the governor said that one person had died in a Colchester traffic accident that he blamed on slippery conditions.

And a 20-year-old man in Springfield, Massachusetts, stopped when he saw police and firefighters examining downed wires and stepped in the wrong place and was electrocuted, said police captain William Collins said.

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.