People walk in a heavy snow on a street in Queens Borough, New York, the United States, on Oct. 29, 2011, while New York City usually gets its first flakes in mid-December. 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. (Xinhua/Wang Chengyun)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A rare October snow storm on Saturday pelted the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states with heavy and wet snow, causing power outages and troubles for travelers.

The U.S. National Weather Service warned that heavy wet snow, falling on trees with remaining foliage, could lead to many downed tree branches and power outages.

The weather service issued a winter storm warning for large parts of the east coast from West Virginia and western Virginia to eastern Maine, in effect until early Sunday. Up to a foot of snow, along with strong winds, could be expected in some areas, it said.

Nearly 580,000 customers were knocked out of power in the east coast, mostly in Pennsylvania, local media reported.

The storm also caused major delays for air travelers. For instance, arriving flights into New York`s John F Kennedy International Airport were delayed an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

People walk in a heavy snow on a street in Queens Borough, New York, the United States, on Oct. 29, 2011, while New York City usually gets its first flakes in mid-December. 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. (Xinhua/Wang Chengyun)