Widespread Power Outages Reported In Upper Makefield

Outage estimates across the region have greatly increased since this story was published early Friday afternoon. For the latest outage information, click here.

More than 5,000 Bucks County residents are without power as a nor'easter batters the region with high winds and heavy, wet snow. Upper Makefield and Buckingham townships have been hit particularly hard. In Upper Makefield, there are 1,651 outages as of 12:55 p.m. PECO is reporting 2,343 outages in Buckingham Township.

There are more than 36,000 customers in the Philadelphia region without power.

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The county with the most outages is Chester, which is experiencing more than 15,000. In Montgomery County, more than 10,000 are without power, and in Bucks County there are more than 5,000. Delaware County is reporting about 3,500 outages. Philadelphia has over 800. (These numbers fluctuate rapidly based on the latest information available. Click here to view the outage map.)

The outages quickly escalated as the storm moved through. 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.

Large flakes of snow began falling in Bucks County by mid-morning, and winds have increased.

Forecasters initially predicted the snow would not accumulate, but in some parts of the area it is appearing to stick on roadways, eyewitnesses say. The snow is coming in the form of large, wet flakes.

Photo by Kara Seymour