A rare October snowstorm bore down on the heavily populated US Northeast on Saturday, with some areas bracing for up to a foot (30 cm) of snow and major power outages. In Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, more than 44,000 customers were without power, the utility Allegheny Power said. Hour-long flight delays were reported at Philadelphia International Airport.
The snow threatened traffic problems for 100,000 college football fans at a game in State College, Pennsylvania between Penn State and the University of Illinois. By midday, there were a few flakes in parts of New Jersey and New York. "It's a strong storm for October," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Paul Walker. "We don't usually see storms this deep and this strong."