As Connecticut digs out from Monday’s blizzard, state officials are asking residents to continue to avoid unnecessary travel as hundreds of plow drivers will clear roads and highways over the next several days.
State Police say they’ve responded to hundreds of calls for assistance from drivers, as well as several crashes involving tractor-trailer drivers who did not heed the ban on commercial travel.
“Travel is still very treacherous,” said William Turner, the state emergency management director. “The more we can keep everybody home and hunkered 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.”
Monday’s powerful winter storm dumped 2 feet of snow in parts of Connecticut. Snow covered much of the Northeast, with Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts getting hit the hardest.
It was a "blockbuster blizzard,” the National Weather Service said.
Cities along the shoreline in southeastern Connecticut were reporting the most snow in the state. As of Monday afternoon, North Stonington reported more than 26 inches, while Mystic saw 24 inches. In New Haven County, Madison reported 20 inches and Branford reported 19 inches. Many cities in northern Connecticut saw 10 to 12 inches of snow. Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks reported nearly 12 inches as of early Monday afternoon.
In Providence, T.F. Green International Airport recorded 33 inches of snow as of early Monday afternoon. In Massachusetts, some towns on Cape Cod recorded winds in excess of 70 mph.
Connecticut state officials said Monday's blizzard lived up to the hype.
The snow is wetter and heavier than last month’s snowstorm, making digging out more difficult. The heavier snow combined with high winds brought down trees and knocked out power to thousands across the state.
“It is playing out as forecasted,” said Josh Cingranelli, a meteorologist with the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. “We’ve already seen snowfall totals approaching 20 inches in southeastern Connecticut. We’ve seen wind gusts approaching 70 miles per hour at Groton New London Airport, officially 68 miles per hour. And we do have official blizzard conditions reported in Groton, Meriden, and also Waterbury.”
In Connecticut, power outages were not widespread as of Monday afternoon. Eversource said it had restored power to more than 24,000 customers; nearly 9,000 Eversource customers were without power as of 3 p.m. In southern Connecticut, United Illuminating had restored power to more than 4,000 customers; about 450 UI customers didn't have power as of 1 p.m.
State officials are warning people without power to be careful when using generators and to never use them indoors. Instead, run them outside.
Turner, the state emergency director, is also reminding residents to use caution when shoveling snow by taking breaks, staying hydrated, and stopping if they don’t feel well.
Southeastern CT hit hard
Some of the highest reported snowfall totals in the state came from southeastern Connecticut.
"It was certainly howling throughout the night,” Stonington First Selectman Bill Middleton said. “You look out and just see the billows of snow blowing by at a pretty high rate.”
Middleton said the snow was a challenge to move, so crews started out using bigger vehicles on the main roads.
“The pickup trucks just can't quite handle the heavy snow, so we've started out with the dump trucks, front loaders, and back hoes just to get things going,” he said.
Snow impacts rail service
The blizzard also resulted in train delays and cancellations on the Metro-North Railroad in Connecticut.
Trains and train stations were mostly empty in southwestern Connecticut Monday afternoon.
Bridgeport resident Rebecca Legoute planned to catch a train to get to work at a restaurant in New Canaan. But she ended up stuck in Stamford after her train was cancelled.
"There's no train running into New Canaan right now," she said. "The transportation system is kind of crazy. Even the trains coming out of Bridgeport were kind of wonky; they had several cancellations throughout the day."
Legoute's manager picked her up to get her to work.
Dumping snow into rivers, lakes
All of the snow has to go somewhere.
That’s why state environmental officials are giving the OK for towns to dump piles of snow from roads, bridges and parking lots into Connecticut’s rivers and lakes.
It’s a practice that’s not usually allowed. Salt and other debris in snow can have a negative impact on water quality. It can block drains, increase the risk of localized flooding and harm fish and other wildlife.
But Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is making an exception so roads can be cleared for emergency vehicles.
The department has issued guidelines for towns to follow, including not dumping snow within a hundred feet of public and private wells used for drinking water.
