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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. A Halloween nor'easter that continued to rage Saturday night was expected to fizzle by Sunday morning. But as of late Saturday, more than 634,000 customers statewide were without power and up to a foot of snow was piling up across the region.
Gov. Dannel Malloy warned residents without power or who lose power overnight that they may be in the dark "for a prolonged period." And the outages were the second highest ever in the state, falling only behind the number posted during Hurricane Irene in late August. Downed trees, covered with leaves and heavy snow, were causing many of the power outages and road problems.
By 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Connecticut Light & Power was reporting nearly 635,000 customers in the dark statewide, just more than half of its customers. Outages included 2,166 customers in Darien, or 27 percent of the town; 5,258, or 18 percent in Greenwich; 3,549 in New Canaan, or 42 percent; 6,128 in Norwalk, or 20 percent; 4,785 in Stamford, or 8 percent; 2,334 in Weston, or 61 percent; 2,454 in Westport, or 19 percent; and 4,279 in Wilton, or 58 percent.
More than 18,000 United Illuminating customers were also without power. In Easton, 840 customers, or 29 percent, were in the dark, and in Fairfield, 1,031, or 4 percent.
Metro-North Railroad was reporting delays on its New Haven Line of 60 to 90 minutes because of signal problems. Service on the New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury branches was suspended because of fallen trees and slippery rail conditions.
The Merritt Parkway was reportedly closed to traffic, blocked by numerous spinouts and fallen branches. The National Weather Service called the early-season snowstorm historic and reported extremely dangerous travel conditions through Saturday evening with heavy bands of wet snow forecast.
A winter storm warning remains in effect until 6 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Snow will be heavy at times, with a low of 27 degrees. Blustery winds of 18 to 24 mph are predicted, with gusts as high as 49 mph. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches is possible. Sunday morning will be cloudy, gradually clearing with a high near 43 degrees.
A coastal flood advisory was in effect until 4 a.m., with widespread flooding possible along Long Island Sound, according to the weather service.
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