Early nor'easter blankets East Coast areas

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A heavy October snow storm blanketed parts of the East Coast, causing hours-long delays in major airports and affecting air traffic everywhere.

When there is a storm affecting travel in other parts of the country, there is usually a ripple effect. At Los Angeles International Airport, several flights to New York and Pennsylvania have been delayed or canceled. Officials are advising travelers to check with their airlines before heading to the airport.

Heavy, wet snow is piling up along the Northeast, drastically affecting flight at several airports. At Kennedy International Airport in New York arriving flights have been delayed by an average of five hours.

Delays have also been reported in Newark, New Jersey and Philadelphia as well.

The unusual early snow storm headed toward New England has blanketed parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut and other states with record-breaking snowfall.

Communities inland were getting hit hardest, with eastern Pennsylvania serving as the bull's-eye for the storm. Some places got more than half-a-foot of snow, and towns near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border saw 10 inches fall. And New York City's Central Park set a record for both the date and the month of October with 1.3 inches of snow by mid-afternoon and more falling.

Across the mid-Atlantic region at least 1.7 million customers were without power from Maryland north through Massachusetts, and utilities were bringing in crews from other states to help restore it.

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.

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 50 mph were predicted especially along coastal areas.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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snow, weather, amy powell

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