People run down the sidewalk as it snows in New York, October 29, 2011. A rare October snowstorm bore down on the heavily populated U.S. Northeast on Saturday, with some areas bracing for up to a foot (30 cm) of snow and major power outages. [Photo/Agencies]

PHILADELPHIA - The unusually early snowstorm bringing heavy, wet snow to the East Coast has knocked out power to more than 1.4 million customers.

Half a million are without power in New Jersey, including Gov. Chris Christie, who declared a state of emergency.

Utilities in Pennsylvania say 428,000 customers have lost power. PPL spokeswoman Lissette Santana said Saturday that 200 crews were working to restore it. The company serves northeast and central Pennsylvania.

More than 160,000 customers lost power in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

In New York, about 88,000 have lost power. In Connecticut, utilities reported more than 370,000 without service.

And spokesman Todd Meyers says Potomac Edison had more than 26,000 outages in western Maryland.

About 19,000 had lost power in Massachusetts.