(CNN) — A strong wintry storm still was dumping snow Friday in far northern New England after creating traffic havoc that claimed at least eight lives across the country's eastern half and knocked out power for tens of thousands of people.

A mix of rain, snow and ice that initially hit the Midwest caused headaches from the South to the Northeast, leaving up to a foot of snow in some parts of the latter and widespread freezing rain and ice accumulations elsewhere. Conditions prompted school closures, hours-long delays for commuters and hundreds of flight cancellations.

Pedestrians push through a wintry mix of snow and ice Thursday in New York.

About 200,000 customers in four states were without power at 6 p.m. ET Friday, according to Poweroutage.us, in part due to freezing rain.

The snow in the Northeast was expected to end Saturday morning, though gusty winds and coastal flooding will continue, the National Weather Service said . Another cold front will drop additional snowfall from the Great Lakes to the New England interior through Sunday.</s>TORRINGTON, CT (WFSB) - Litchfield County picked up a little extra snow Friday morning after the initial main round from Winter Storm Zoe.

People had to do what they're used to doing up in the northwest hills: Dig out.

At least they had some sunshine to do it later in the morning.

Before that, it was a much different scenario.

“Everybody will be skipping the turkey and get the tree out," joked Carmel Indomenico of Torrington.

It's hard for some to believe that Thanksgiving is next week when it looked more like the middle of winter in Torrington.

Indomenico said he started shoveling his driveway around 6:45 a.m. on Friday.

His grandson Andrew Bugryn, who lives across the street, jumped in to help.

“I came over here to help my grandfather clean the driveway because he shouldn’t be out here," Andrew Bugryn said.

Winter Storm Zoe dumped several inches of snow on the region.

“I left work early because I was worried it was going to be a bit slippery," said Jo Bugryn of Torrington.

When Channel 3 stopped by Torrington's Department of Public Works on Thursday, it said it was ready to tackle whatever the storm had in store.

Schools in Torrington were closed on Friday.

Stay with Channel 3 for continuing coverage of Winter Storm Zoe's aftermath.</s>Thursday took a lot of people by surprise. Anyone not following the weather closely woke up to a colder than expected morning. As night darkness begrudgingly gave way to morning light, it was clear that the daylight would be facing an uphill battle. The cautious commuter would have checked their $1,000 smartphone and noticed rain in the forecast starting around noon.

What they wouldn’t have noticed was how far sideways things were about to go. Before the day was over, at least eight were dead due to the wintry conditions. A CNN report puts it succinctly. “Snowstorm slams eastern US, killing 8 and knocking out power.”

“A strong winter storm moving over the eastern half of the country has claimed at least eight lives and knocked out power for tens of thousands of people. “A turbulent mix of rain, snow and ice that initially hit the Midwest caused havoc from the south to the northeast Thursday. It prompted school closures, hours-long delays for commuters and hundreds of flight cancellations.”

One of the victims of yesterday’s winter tantrum was a 60-year-old woman who lost control of her vehicle in Miami County, Indiana. She crashed due to slippery roads. CNN reports deadly weather-related crashes as far south as Mississippi.

It wasn’t just the South. New Yorkers were also caught unprepared. The Port Authority was overcrowded with commuters awaiting busses that couldn’t get there. New Jersey state police dealt with 555 traffic accidents.

In Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, school buses full of school children were forced to retreat back to the schools, leaving parents and students in a bind.

Severe winter weather takes a toll beyond the mean streets. Hundreds of thousands are left without power. Many rely on electricity to provide heat. In some circumstances, hours without heat can be deadly.

The storm is not over. Snow will continue to fall and ice will continue to form throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. The National Weather Service predicts another 6 to 12 inches of snow before Friday comes to an end.

One of the keys to surviving extreme weather conditions is prior preparation. Friday commuters will not be caught by surprise. Take a moment to put down the smartphone and turn on the local weather to see if your area will be affected. Call in late for work and put on the snow tires or chains. Drive slowly. And keep the faucets dripping.</s>HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - The warmth of the summer bled into the first half of October, only to be undone by colder air for the remainder of the month. Meanwhile, the very wet weather has seen no immediate end.

Could these be signs of things to come this winter?

As always, there are many things to consider, most importantly the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Warmer waters over the northeastern seaboard played a role in delivering record humidity and relentless wet weather this spring and summer. Current trends have kept the coastal waters warm, meaning this area could be favorable for coastal storms.

We have already seen one strong nor'easter this fall, and more could easily follow.

On the opposite U.S. coast, a familiar pattern has returned: the warm blob. Yes, this is a real thing. You may remember it as recently as 2013-2014.

This area of warm water tends to reinforce a ridge of high pressure across the North Atlantic Ocean. This gives a direct pathway of cold air to reach the eastern United States. If the warm blob holds together, this may be a huge driver of colder weather locally.

A strengthening El Nino or warm equatorial Pacific may be just enough to throw some excitement into our winter. An active southern jet stream means southern storms that could tap into the Gulf of Mexico and ride along the East Coast, leading to more precipitation.

We took a look at previous years that had the same general pattern. In the winter of 2004-2005 and 2014-2015, a weak El Nino phase was present in the Pacific. In both years, northern Pacific waters were anomalously warm, especially in 2014-2015. In addition, the summer of 2004 was in the top five wettest on record.

When combining these factors, it appears likely that overall, below-average temperatures will persist into this winter.

So, when you boil it all down, this could be a winter for winter lovers. It will be cold and snowy.

We'll see below-average temperatures, particularly in January and February when we see a chance for some bitter cold spells.

We also expect above average snowfall, about 30 to 40 inches total for the season.</s>WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. — More than 100 power crews arrived in the mountains to help Blue Ridge Energy restore electricity to thousands of customers following Thursday's winter storm.

According to the utility, the vast majority of these outages are in Ashe and Alleghany Counties, where crews are expected to work through the weekend.

Lineman Josh Greene said he's already seen a lot of damage since he began his shift Thursday morning.

"A lot of trees down, ice, got the trees laying over the line," Greene said. "It's starting to melt off, but there's still some more damage to come."

Ashe County Schools announced it'll be on a two-hour delay Friday, November 16, due to the outages.​​​​​​​ Watauga County Schools will also delay classes by two hours.

According to North Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop F, which covers the mountains and foothills, have seen a jump in car crashes.

Since Monday, when the wet weather began, troopers in the foothills and mountains recorded nearly 300 collisions.

Of those collisions, 62 happened just in the past 24 hours as the winter storm pushed through the area.</s>CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP (KDKA) – Thousands of people are waking up in the dark on Friday after a winter storm moved through the area.

The storm started with freezing rain, which iced over power lines. As the storm progressed, the precipitation changed over to snow, which has brought down trees and power lines across the area.

As of 6 a.m., 22,000 West Penn customers were without power. An additional 20,000 Duquesne Light customers are without power as well.

Most of the outages are being reported in Butler County.

However, there are 16,000 customers in Allegheny County without power, while 5,000 customers in Armstrong County and 3,000 customers in Beaver County are also in the dark.

Stay With KDKA.com For More Details</s>A "significant winter storm" will strike the Ohio Valley, Appalachians, and Mid-Atlantic Thursday and the Northeast this evening, according to the latest NWS Weather Prediction Center's short-range forecast.

A potent upper-level low will push through the Ohio Valley Thursday, resulting in dangerous wintry conditions there to continue and move northeastward.

Models suggest that parts of the Ohio Valley could receive a few additional inches of snow and some freezing rain.

According to the forecast, a low-pressure surface system will gain strength over the Southeast coast and charge northward along the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday and Friday, resulting in freezing rain across the Southern and Central Appalachians as warm air collides with fridge air at ground level. NWS warns ice accumulations could be over a quarter of an inch there.

Later this evening, into the overnight hour, the upper-level and surface lows are expected to produce "a perfect storm" with heavy snowfall in the northern Mid-Atlantic and into the interior Northeast. Snow totals in interior Pennsylvania and New York could measure about one foot. State and local governments across the Northeast have already issued Winter Storm and Ice Warnings as well as Winter Weather Advisories.

Models show the heaviest of this wintry precipitation will remain slightly west of major cities DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City, but a wintry mix is possible for those areas Thursday evening and could cause severe travel headaches.

"A strong early season winter storm is impacting the central and eastern United States to end the week, spreading snow and ice into places like St. Louis, Indianapolis, and other portions of the Midwest early Thursday. Heavy snow and ice is anticipated to impact the suburbs of the I-95 corridor from Washington to Boston, with even some brief wintry precipitation into the major cities before a change to rain. However, strongest impacts will be felt from central Pennsylvania northeastward into the mountains of northern New England where locally up to 0.25” of icing and a foot of snow is expected. This storm is coming as a strong push of cold air coming down from Canada interacts with Gulf of Mexico moisture, resulting in early season wintry precipitation. As the storm departs, more cold air will likely reinforce itself back into key natural gas consuming regions of the Great Lakes and Northeast next week, furthering the bout with sustained above normal heating demand in these regions," reported Ed Vallee, head meteorologist at Vallee Weather Consulting.

Weather models show record low temperatures for some parts of the Northeast.

As the cold weather pours into the Northeast, the US-Lower 48 heating degree day (HDD), GFS Operational, a measurement designed to quantify the demand for energy needed to heat a building, has abruptly moved higher.

And maybe the HDD surge was one of the triggers that blew up a fund's short natgas book.

Yesterday morning, the price of the 1st month natgas contract soared, spiked as much as 20% in minutes - the biggest intraday move higher since 2009 - with the price exploding higher once a barrier of stops at $4.40 was tripped, at which point furious short covering sent nat gas as high as $4.929 in just seconds, the highest since February 2014, when the US experienced its "polar vortex" winter.

Putting the move in its long-term context shows just how breathless the recent short squeeze has been.

What is social media saying about 2018's first winter blast?
A total of eight people die when a strong winter storm strikes the eastern United States, causing tens of thousands of people to lose power.