A rare October snowstorm blanketed much of the U.S. Northeast on Saturday, as a deadly nor'easter rolled into the region just in time for Halloween.

The bad weather mix of snow and rain, ranging from the Mid-Atlantic area to New England, cut power to more than 2 million households, forced the cancellation of scores of airline flights, and led to at least three deaths, according to Reuters.

It's a strong storm for October, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Paul Walker said. We don't usually see storms this deep and this strong.

The snowstorm brought more than an inch of snow to New York's Central Park, shattering a 1925 record, according to AccuWeather. The surprising storm sent many New Yorkers into shock, as they checked into places like Snowtober 2011, Snowpocalypse, and Snowloween on Four Square.

Many Northeast areas experienced power outages as falling snow, ice, and trees left countless homes along the East Coast in darkness, making for a spooky pre-Halloween season.

According to Reuters, the storm led to reports of massive power outages affecting many utility customers, as follows:

-- 606,388 at Connecticut Light and Power.

-- 341,000 at PSE&G in New Jersey.

-- More than 300,000 at First Energy in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

-- 214,000 at PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania.

-- More than 77,000 at Con Edison in New York.

-- More than 66,000 at Allegheny Power in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

-- 17,467 at the United Illuminating Co. in Connecticut.

Another effect of the weather was to drive Occupy Wall Street movement protesters into tents and under makeshift tarps in Zuccotti Park in the Manhattan borough of New York.

The National Weather Service said eastern Pennsylvania was a big target for the storm, with some areas there having accumulated more than 10 inches of snow by Saturday evening. Cities close to the Atlantic coast are expected to get only about one to two inches of snow during this nor'easter, while some areas of the Catskills may accumulate six to 12 inches of snow.

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