A Nor’easter shut down much of the state on Monday after dumping more than a foot of snow in most cities and towns overnight with blizzard conditions that continued throughout the day.
The storm brought whiteout conditions and wind gusts up to 70 mph, state officials said at a midday news briefing. “Official blizzard conditions” were recorded in Groton, Meriden and Waterbury, officials said. By the morning hours, most parts of the state had already gotten a foot or more of snow, with portions of the southeast corner of Connecticut reporting nearly 20 inches.
Snow and wind blast Connecticut. See how much fell in your town.
In preparation for the storm, Gov. Ned Lamont ordered all executive branch office buildings to close to the public and declared a state of emergency. He also put a commercial travel ban which went in place beginning Sunday evening and was terminated effective at 4 p.m. on Monday.
“This is an intense storm and it is expected to continue throughout Monday morning and into the afternoon before finally tapering off,” Lamont said in a statement. “I am urging everyone who does not need to be on the roads to avoid all unnecessary, non-essential travel and do their best to stay home and stay safe.”
Ahead of the storm, the National Weather Service said high winds and snow were expected to bring down tree limbs and power lines.
According to Eversource, more than 14,000 customers were without power as of about 10 a.m. on Monday, making up a little over 1% of the more than 1.3 million residents in Connecticut served by the power company. That number had fallen under 10,000 by the early afternoon with the largest outages located in Burlington, Canterbury, Groton, Guilford and Madison.
Connecticut has had “moderate impacts” from the storm compared to neighboring states, according to Eversource spokesperson Sarah Paduano.
“We worked through the overnight,” Paduano said on Monday morning. “We had a big pickup in outages around 6 a.m., and that sort of tracks with people waking up and realizing they’re out of power and then reporting it. Also, the strong winds have persisted throughout the morning and the peak of it has been in the early morning hours, so we’ve seen consistent damage reports with that.
“We just want our customers to know that we’re working as quickly and as safely as possible, and in some cases, certain outages may be a multi-day restoration,” Paduano said.
As of 3 p.m. on Monday, Eversource said it had restored power to more than 24,000 customers since the storm began.
“While it’s been extremely challenging for our crews to get to some damage locations to make repairs and restore power due to the significant snowfall, they have been making progress, while also focusing on community priorities like clearing blocked roads and in many situations our remote operators working behind the scenes have been able to reroute power to bring service back for customers,” Eversource President of Connecticut Electric Operations Steve Sullivan said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Even with all of the challenges this storm presents, our crews continue to work as quickly and safely as possible and our entire Eversource team is committed to staying on the job around-the-clock until every customer has their power back on.”
Ahead of the storm, Eversource said it had about 700 crews, including outside line workers from neighboring states, prepared and “in position” to respond to outages. According to state officials, crews came from as far as Canada to assist. Eversource warned that restoration efforts could extend into multiple days with the slow moving storm expected to bring a combination of heavy wet snow and intense winds.
United Illuminating, which serves more than 350,000 customers in Connecticut, reported a total of 1,156 outages as of 10 a.m. on Monday. In the afternoon hours, the number of United Illuminating customers without power was down to under 500, the company reported.
Multiple major roads across the state were closed in the morning hours and into the early afternoon because of downed power lines and crashes. According to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, trees that came down on power lines shut down portions of Route 42 in Beacon Falls; Route 106 in Darien; Route 130 in Bridgeport; Route 77 in Guilford; and Route 63 in Naugatuck.
Jackknifed tractor-trailers shut down Route 67 in New Milford and Route 4 in Cornwall, the DOT said. A disabled dump truck closed part of Route 138 in Lisbon in the morning hours, according to the DOT.
According to Connecticut State Police Sgt. Michael Hamel, troopers just before noon had responded to more than 250 motor vehicle assist calls, which included vehicles that went off of roadways, and about 82 crashes. Only two of the crashes involved minor injuries, he said.
“While a full travel ban is not in effect, the travel is still very treacherous,” Connecticut Emergency Management Director William Turner said at a news briefing. “The more we can keep everybody home and hunker down for the storm, the easier it’ll be for our emergency responders to respond to those emergency calls as well as our Department of Transportation and municipal public works agencies to get out there and clean this storm up.”
“We continue to respond to the storm in full force,” DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said in an afternoon email. “What that means is there are about 650 CTDOT trucks and more than 900 drivers out throughout the state. We are also being assisted by approximately 200 private contractors.”
According to Morgan, crews were called in late Sunday afternoon and “have not gone home.”
“They will continue clearing roads throughout the day and into the evening,” Morgan said. “During the height of the storm, the wind and intensity of the snow made for whiteout conditions with poor visibility. This was challenging for drivers, but they were able to keep their speeds down and keep moving snow.”
Morgan encouraged anyone who needed to travel to leave extra time and slow down. Bus services in the state have been suspended until further notice, he said.
Schools across the state closed ahead of the storm. Tweed New Haven Airport shut down on Sunday evening and announced it would close through 8 p.m. Monday.
Bradley International Airport remained open Monday, but airport officials said about 95% of flights were proactively canceled, according to a spokesperson for the Connecticut Airport Authority. Snow removal efforts were underway throughout Monday as “some arrivals” were possibly expected for make “late-night” in the night, the spokesperson said.
“Looking ahead, residual cancelations and delays are expected as we head into Tuesday as the airlines work to resume normal flight operations across the region,” a CAA spokesperson said. “Passengers who are scheduled to fly (Tuesday) should be checking the status of their flight directly with their airline before coming to the airport.”
Train services were also impacted, with Metro-North Railroad announcing it would it would operate on a reduced schedule on the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines, including the Wassaic, New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury branches.
A spokesperson for Amtrak said the railroad made service adjustments to “some routes” on Sunday and Monday, with impacted customers receiving notifications about cancellations or adjustments. Amtrak Northeast, which extends from Virginia to Maine, notified customers on Monday of numerous trains that were canceled.
“The safety of our customers and team members remains our highest priority,” an Amtrak spokesperson said. “These proactive measures help limit exposure to hazardous conditions, protect our equipment, and support guidance from state and local authorities advising limited travel during and after the storm.”
The United Way of Connecticut’s 211 program had received more than 200 calls just before noon from individuals looking for transportation to one of the 168 warming centers that were open across the state. Anyone in need of a shelter can call 211 or visit 211ct.org. The state’s cold weather protocol is expected to remain in place until at least noon on Tuesday, state officials said at a new briefing.
Turner also warned those who would be clearing snow from their driveways and walkways that the heavy snow the storm brought is sometimes referred to as “heart attack snow.”
“We want people to be very careful as they begin to dig out and use caution, take breaks, stay hydrated,” Turner said. “And if you’re not feeling well, please stop shoveling.”
A spokesperson for Southern Connecticut State University announced in the afternoon that the university would be closed on Tuesday for cleanup.
“This decision reflects our continued commitment to campus safety and operational readiness, allowing our facilities team the necessary time to thoroughly clear campus walkways and parking areas,” the spokesperson said. “It also gives our community the opportunity to adjust plans for university events and to attend to other essential responsibilities, such as family care and snow removal.”
