1.5M Lose Power in Storm; Thousand Flights Snarled

A rare October snowstorm has rolled up the East Coast and knocked out power to some 1.5 million people, MSNBC reports. The snowfall and ferocious winds have also delayed flights in Newark, New York, and Philadelphia—some by up to 6 hours. One live tracking site has tweeted more than 1,000 flight cancelations across the country. Threatening some areas with up to a foot of wet snow, the storm has knocked out power in New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

Inland mid-Atlantic communities have seen the most clogged driveways so far, with 4 inches of snow reported in West Virginia and 9 inches expected in Maryland, the AP reports. Even heavier snowfall is forecast for later today and tomorrow in parts of New Hampshire, the Litchfield Hills in northwestern Connecticut, and the Massachusetts Berkshires. New York City, pelted by cold rain and snow most of today, is bracing for up to 10 inches by tonight, the New York Daily News reports. The Big Apple hasn't seen October snowfall since 2002; its last memorable October storm was a mere half inch in 1952. "This is very, very unusual," a meteorologist says. (More snowstorm stories.)