ENERGY: Check on Early Nor’easter; Power Outage Risks

A strengthening nor'easter will bring hurricane-force wind gusts, 4 to 8 inches of rain across southeastern New England from Friday night through Saturday night, with the storm potentially taking on subtropical characteristics as it tracks slowly over the warm Gulf Stream, according to reporting from AccuWeather * Widespread tree damage from hurricane-force gusts slamming into foliage-heavy trees on already saturated soil is expected to drive extensive power outages across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, southeastern New Hampshire, and coastal Maine, while heavy rain and coastal flooding will disrupt road and rail travel across the region through the weekend and potentially into next week given the storm's slow movement, which could weigh on * Coastal flooding is already underway in the mid-Atlantic, with water levels 2 to 3 feet above average monthly tide levels and some locations approaching 6 feet above, with Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Newport News facing the worst conditions as water backs up at the lower end of the Chesapeake Bay. * Source: AccuWeather New York City is expected to avoid the worst of the storm, with roughly 1 to 2 inches of rain and windy but non-se