http://www.weather.com/news/commuter-conditions/winter-storm-nika-ice-power-outages-pennsylvania-20140205
More than 450,000 customers were still without power in Pennsylvania Thursday morning after Winter Storm Nika brought heavy snow, high winds and icy conditions. The number is down from the height of the storm, when nearly 850,000 customers were in the dark, but some utility companies were warning the remaining outages could last for days.
"Moisture from Nika overran a layer of cold air near the surface of the earth in the Northeast late Tuesday night into early Wednesday," said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. "This resulted in freezing rain in southeast Pennsylvania that accumulated one-quarter to one-half inch, leading to tree damage and widespread power outages."
Freezing rain also accumulated an estimated one-quarter to one-third of an inch in the Trenton, N.J. metro area. Driving conditions remain poor in many areas. Ice weighed down power lines and caused branches to break.
(MORE: Winter Storm Snow and Ice Totals)
A half-inch accumulation of ice on power lines can add 500 pounds of extra weight. Ice can also increase the weight of branches by 30 times, significantly increasing the potential for breaking and falls.
Earlier Wednesday, PECO reported 620,500 customers without power Wednesday in the five-county Philadelphia region, most of them in suburban counties. More than 161,000 customers were without power in Chester County, more than 118,000 in Montgomery County and more than 102,000 in Bucks County. PPL reported more than 60,000 customers without power, most of them in Lancaster County.
"The crews have been making progress restoring the power all through (Wednesday) and (Wednesday) night," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett in a Thursday morning interview on The Weather Channel. "Our state operations center is constantly monitoring this."
This was the second-worst storm in PECO history in terms of outages; Only Superstorm Sandy left more customers without power.
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