Luke Schiada shovels snow in front of his house on Sherman St. in Brooklyn during a rare snow storm on Saturday, October 29, 2011.
A jogger makes their way through Central Park as snows falls Saturday Oct. 29, 2011 in New York.
It’s snowing! The white stuff hit the Big Apple early this season.
A rare October snowstorm socked the East Coast Saturday, setting a snowfall record in New York City and knocking out power to more than 2 million homes and businesses and killing three people across the region.
No deaths were reported in the city, but a 69-year-old woman was hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries after she was struck by a falling tree branch at W. 61st St. and Central Park West about 1 p.m.
The Parks Department fielded nearly 1,000 calls about downed limbs that snapped under the weight of the ice and snow. In response, all city parks were ordered closed last night due to the "ongoing danger of falling branches and trees."
The surprise storm was expected to dump up to 8 inches of slush on city streets by this morning.
"It's been a pretty dynamic situation," said Joe Picca, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
The powerful nor'easter caused flight delays of up to six hours at area airports, disrupted subway service and left more than 15,000 Con Ed customers without power in the city.
Metro-North train service was suspended on the busy Harlem line north of North White Plains due to numerous downed trees, and more than 2.2 million customers lost power from Maryland to Massachusetts.
At least three people in the Northeast died during the storm. Deaths were reported in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
In New York, Gov. Cuomo declared a state of emergency in 13 counties, including Richmond.
This is only the fourth time the city has had snow before Halloween - and it's the most by far. By 8 p.m., Central Park counted 1.3 inches of snow, beating out the previous record of .8 inches for October. The final tally was expected to hit 5 to 8 inches, said Picca, who blamed the record snowfall on the chilly temperatures.
The sudden snow storm took many New Yorkers by surprise.
"The weather is crazy," said Wali Robinson , 22, a ticket broker from Astoria , Queens. "It was 60 degrees four days ago. It really makes you question global warming."
Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty said the city was fighting the storm with 1,400 plows. "We'll be out there all day and all night tonight, plowing and de-icing," Doherty said.
The snow isn't expected to linger for long. Meteorologists are forecasting clear skies and temperatures in the upper 40s in the city today. "Considering that the ground is relatively warm and the snow is as wet as it is, any that remains on the ground should be fairly quick to melt away," Picca said.
In Jackson Heights, Queens, a downed tree fell on five cars, blocking much of 73rd St. "It was a huge tree. It's completely bad," said 60-year-old Ralph Rivera. "Snow before Halloween? I was shocked."
Anni Lattunen, a 29-year-old from Finland studying dance in Manhattan, was one of many New Yorkers unprepared for early snow. "It's horrible," she said.
"I'm here for just a short while and don't have a long jacket. I didn't expect it to snow in October."
Indeed, snow in October is unusual. There has been measurable snow during the month in 1952, 1925 and 1870, according to the National Weather Service. Each time, less than an inch stuck to the ground.
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