Winter storm blows through Connecticut with wind and snow

The National Weather Service has confirmed that blizzard conditions occurred in New London County in Connecticut, as some spots in the region saw over 20 inches of snow.

Meteorologist Garett Argianas says the snow is slowing now and will end from west to east this evening, leaving bitter cold and wind behind it. Lows Saturday night will be in the single digits; on Sunday, highs will be in the 20s.

Meanwhile, almost two feet of snow has fallen in some areas of the northeastern U.S. Wind gusts in Saturday's nor'easter surpassed 70 mph in a few spots in Massachusetts. The wind scoured the ground bare in some places and piled the snow into huge drifts in others.

The snow was heavy at times, with rates of at least one to two inches per hour creating “white out” conditions.

By 5:30 p.m. Saturday, there were signs that Sunday would see a return to normal. As residents shoveled and blew the snow away, area train services said they’d resume regular schedules Sunday, and towns and cities started announcing the end of parking bans by Sunday morning.

And there were signals throughout the day that the state was largely faring well. At a noontime briefing, Lamont said power outages were minimal — and they remained that way through Saturday evening. Lamont said this is the kind of storm the state’s residents are used to.

“It’s a wicked New England storm, and it’s going west to east,” he said. “We predict it will lighten up in Litchfield County, western areas by early afternoon — not until later…over in the greater New London and Windham area, where you’re going to have much heavier snow.”

Though there is potential with Saturday's storm for widespread power outages, Eversource — the state’s largest utility — was reporting few issues as of 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Lamont said that is likely because the snow has so far been “lighter,” meaning less impact on trees and utility lines.

But he stressed that, with snow falling at more than an inch or two an hour, it’s critical that motorists stay off the roads.

“Snow plows can’t come around fast enough to get that cleared,” Lamont said. “That creates a lot of hazardous conditions — that, plus the low visibility.”

Parts of 10 states and the population centers of Philadelphia, New York and Boston were in the path of the storm. Many flights into and out of the airports serving New York, Boston and Philadelphia were canceled. Boston could set a record for snowfall. The storm is also causing coastal flooding and has cut power to over 120,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.

Lamont also said that traffic accidents have been kept to a minimum in Connecticut.

“Look, this is not our first rodeo,” he said. “We’re the gateway to New England. We’ve been through these storms before.”

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.