Name: Major snowstorm drops foot of snow in parts of Connecticut with more on the way
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Major snowstorm drops foot of snow in parts of Connecticut with more on the way

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AdvertisementBy HartfordFeb 02, 2021 at 5:54 amAlmost all of Connecticut was buried under a foot of snow or was on its way toward that mark after an enormous winter storm arrived Monday and parked itself over the Northeast, where it is expected to linger through Tuesday evening and drop as many as five more inches of snow across the state.Bridgeport and West Haven each reported 15 inches of snow on the ground, the highest observed snow totals in Connecticut as of 8 p.m., but many communities near the coast were not far behind, according to the National Weather Service.AdvertisementMonroe, Milford and Weston each reported more than 14 inches and parts of Litchfield County, like Roxbury and Torrington, already had more than a foot of snow with more on the way.The often whiteout and near-blizzard conditions across the region ground most road, rail and air travel to a halt, although the COVID-19 pandemic already limited the number of drivers and commuters. No major crashes or injuries were reported, but Stamford firefighters saved two people from a truck that crashed into icy water during the storm.AdvertisementBut the storm also forced health care providers to close COVID-19 testing sites and cancel more than 10,000 vaccination appointments scheduled for Monday, let alone the possibility of additional closures Tuesday should the storm continue to disrupt travel.Gov. Ned Lamont emphasized the storm would not cause any vaccinations to spoil — backup power and other safeguards would mean they would keep during any delay — and that everyone whose appointment was canceled .“That could put us back a little bit, but not to worry,” Lamont said Monday afternoon. “I had said I thought the next shipment of vaccines was going to come this afternoon; it’s going to come tomorrow morning, but everything is still on track and as you can see we’ll make up for that lost day and everybody will be caught up by Sunday.”Lamont and municipal leaders across the state urged residents to hunker down at home until the rest of the storm passes and urged patience as public works crews across the state hustled to keep roads clear in the still-falling snow.“Stay safe, stay home is still our mantra,” the governor said. “Stay off the roads once you get home. It could get a lot more dangerous.”Parts of southwest Connecticut received the most snow with some preliminary reports of 10-13 inches in Stamford, Greenwich and Weston by mid-afternoon as the precipitation continued. The rest of the coastline also was walloped by the storm and many towns received more than 9 inches of snow by late afternoon.The storm was expected to continue overnight for the northern half of the state, where towns in either northern corner could see another 5 inches of snowfall and towns along the Connecticut River could expect to see another 3 inches fall by Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. The southern half of the state could see another 1-2 inches of snow overnight and into Tuesday.Wind gusts of up to 55 mph whipped the state for most of the afternoon, but the snow itself was dry and powdery for most of the day, which may have helped spare the state from the widespread power outages that typically follow a large winter storm.AdvertisementJust 3,000 Eversource customers were without power at the height of the storm, more than 800 of whom were impacted by a single outage incident in New Canaan in the afternoon, but more than half of the total outages were restored late Monday, the utility reported. Only 200 United Illuminating customers were without power early in the afternoon and all but one were restored by 10 p.m.Precipitation was expected to waffle back and forth between heavy and light snow into Monday night before switching to freezing drizzle and eventually back to snow again overnight, first in the south and then in the north, said Gary Lessor, chief meteorologist at Western Connecticut State University’s weather center.“In both places it will turn back to snow again,” Lessor said. The snow is not expected to completely wrap up until Tuesday evening, he said.Snowfall reports as of 8 pm Monday and the highest totals by state so far:NJ - Mendham 30"PA - Whitehall Twp 23.5"NY - Spring Valley 21"MD - Sabillasville 19"CT - Bridgeport 15.2"MA - Sheffield 10.6"RI - West Greenwich 9"NH - New Ipswich 2.8" — NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern)Highway travel remained restricted late Monday with all tractor-trailer trucks prohibited from I-84 until further notice and empty or tandem tractor-trailers prohibited from any other limited-access highways, per an order issued by the governor. The only exception, Lamont said, is for trucks carrying the COVID-19 vaccine or other critical public supplies.The Metro-North Railroad also ended its train schedule early late Monday afternoon, but officials planned to resume regular service Tuesday morning and planned to run trains without passengers along the tracks to keep them clear. CTtransit buses also suspended service in several areas, including Stamford, Waterbury, Meriden and Wallingford.Also in Stamford, firefighters pulled a man and woman from a truck that crashed into the water off of Cummings Park during the storm, officials said. The woman was rescued quickly while firefighters in cold suits jumped into the icy water and were able to pull the man trapped in the cab of the truck out its rear window as the truck sank below him. He was helped into the basket on a ladder truck and put into an ambulance to be taken to an area hospital for further treatment.AdvertisementState police responded to dozens of crashes and stranded motorists, but reported no serious injuries, and AAA responded to nearly half its expected member call volume — both indications drivers took warnings to stay home seriously in addition to COVID-19 restrictions keeping many working at home already.“What’s been great is that many, many residents have heeded the call to stay off the roads, which is hugely helpful for our ability to clear the streets or to get emergency vehicles through, if need be,” New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said.In New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport and dozens of other cities big and small across the state, public works crews and private contractors working in pickup trucks with plows worked side-by-side to keep up with the snowfall. The only conditions slowing them down were COVID-19 sanitation protocols to clean trucks during shift changes, officials said.New Haven had more than 45 city and contractor trucks running throughout the day, but that group will still need days to dig out from under the amounts expected by the end of Tuesday, said Rick Fontana, the city’s director of emergency operations.“I would not say things will be back to normal tomorrow, I think it’s going to take a few days,” Fontana said Monday evening. “This is not going to be something we get cleaned up in one day, this is going to be an extended cleanup period. ... We’ll get it done. These streets will be sparkling maybe by the weekend.”Tuesday’s lingering snow will lack the intensity of Monday’s, meteorologists said.Advertisement“It will be more of a nuisance,” Lessor said. “You clean the driveway, and you go out a couple of hours later, and there’s another half-inch or inch.”Courant staff writers Emily Brindley and Michael Hamad contributed to this story.Zach Murdock can be reached at . Christine Dempsey can be reached at .AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs it happensGet the latest updates on Coronavirus and other breaking news events happening across Connecticut &gt; Advertisement Advertisement

AdvertisementBy HartfordFeb 02, 2021 at 5:54 amAlmost all of Connecticut was buried under a foot of snow or was on its way toward that mark after an enormous winter storm arrived Monday and parked itself over the Northeast, where it is expected to linger through Tuesday evening and drop as many as five more inches of snow across the state.Bridgeport and West Haven each reported 15 inches of snow on the ground, the highest observed snow totals in Connecticut as of 8 p.m., but many communities near the coast were not far behind, according to the National Weather Service.AdvertisementMonroe,...

Major snowstorm drops foot of snow in parts of Connecticut with more on the way

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