Nearly A Half Million In Eastern PA Without Power In Nor'easter

A nor'easter with high winds, snow and rain is causing havoc in Eastern Pennsylvania, causing massive power outages, travel delays and safety concerns with "near whiteout conditions" possible into the night, the National Weather Service said. A Winter Weather Advisory has now been called for the Philadelphia region, and will remain in place until 10 p.m. Friday.

Contrary to the forecast as recent as this morning, snow will now continue well after nightfall. It should cease by 9 p.m., the Weather Channel estimates. Snow will be heavy at times and power outages are now rampant.

Travelers reported poor conditions and law enforcement agencies warn of deteriorating conditions. There are multiple reports of crashes and closed roadways.

As many as 348,000 PECO customers are now without power as of 9 p.m. Friday. That's significantly up from previous estimates and numbers continue to escalate.

The county with the most outages is Delaware, which is experiencing more than 109,000. Montgomery County is reporting more than 106,000 outages. In Bucks County, more than 68,000 are without power, and in Chester County there are more than 30,000. Philadelphia has over 30,000 as well. (These numbers fluctuate rapidly based on the latest information available. Click here to view the outage map.)

Elsewhere in Eastern Pennsylvania, PPL reports more than 120,000 customers are without power across the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos.

NBC10, citing sources from PECO, says it could be four days before power is fully restored to the region.

That means about a half a million people in Eastern Pennsylvania currently are without power as of 9 p.m. Friday.

The outages rapidly increased as the storm progressed. At 11 a.m., there were less than 4,500 outages across the area serviced by PECO. But 90 minutes later that number increased by more than 33,000 and has only trended upward.

The storm caused a travel nightmare across the region. SEPTA suspended many of its Regional Rail lines, stranding commuters. Roads were closed due to downed wires and trees, and hundreds of flights were canceled.

Four SEPTA bus passengers were hurt and a portion of the Schuylkill Expressway closed after a tree fell on a bus Friday afternoon.

Large flakes of snow began falling north of Philadelphia by mid-morning, and winds increased. The snow is coming in the form of large, wet flakes.

A Flood Watch is in place all day Friday, and a Flood Advisory is in place through mid-afternoon. Also, there is a High Wind Watch all day with gusts of up to 60 mph now predicted.

Forecasters say the storm is morphing into a "bomb cyclone," similar to what we experienced in January.

In Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square, a large tree was toppled by strong winds. See the photo here.

Continue to monitor this page as we provide updates on the storm throughout the day Friday.

Photo of snow in Newtown, Bucks County shortly after 11 a.m., by Kara Seymour