Governor Dannel Malloy offered a briefing from the Emergency Operations Center in Hartford on Wednesday morning.
He ordered all first-shift, non-essential state employees to stay home due to the difficult weather conditions, and has advised that anyone who does not need to be on the road during the storm should avoid it. He has also instituted a soft ban on tandem trucks on interstate highways.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Malloy said, "I don't like the term non-essential, because I think everyone does important work, but with poor road conditions, I don't want to put anyone in harm's way. I would also encourage private employers to follow the state’s lead."
Snow is piling up, but Malloy said that power outages are minimal and are being monitored. The storm should change to rain or a mix of precipitation as the day progresses, with more snow to follow, he said.
There have been no road fatalities on highways yet, Malloy reported, and about half of the flights at Bradley International Airport have been canceled.
Governor Cuomo closed the entire length of I-84 in New York State to all vehicle traffic until further notice.
The National Weather Service expects the storm to dump as much as six to ten inches of snow and sleet in the northwest corner, five to nine inches in the Hartford area, and one to three inches along the shoreline. It has issued a winter storm warning until 6:00 pm.
Metro-North has canceled and combined some trains on the New Haven line. There are interruptions to CTTransit bus service, with updates available here.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.