HARTFORD, Conn. — A winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of Connecticut on Saturday, blanketing roads and halting transportation across much of the state.
As of late Saturday afternoon, state police had received 731 calls for service Saturday and responded to 66 accidents, four of which involved serious injuries, Max Reiss, a spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont, said. Three vehicles had been cited for violating the state’s ban on tractor trailer trucks during the storm.
Despite fear of mass power outages because of the storm, the state experienced no major issues in that area, with Eversource reporting only about 200 outages in total over the course of the day, Reiss said.
The National Weather Service confirmed blizzard conditions in parts of Eastern Connecticut on Saturday morning, with strong wind gusts persisting into the evening. Snow accumulated across the state, with Bridgeport reporting 14 inches as of mid-afternoon and areas of New London and Windham counties reporting as much as a foot and a half.
A spokesperson for Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said the city had recorded about 6 inches of snow as of mid-afternoon but had not experienced any major accidents or outages. Hartford announced Saturday its parking ban will end Sunday morning, when the storm is expected to have passed.
In Manchester, Town Manager Steve Stephanou said the town had seen 9-12 inches but that the snow has been relatively light, making for easier plowing. West Hartford Town Manager Matt said things had been relatively quiet Saturday, with no major accidents or outages. East Hartford Mayor Mike Walsh also said the town had seen no major issues.
As of late afternoon Saturday, much of Connecticut appeared to have experienced the worst of the storm.
Gary Lessor, chief meteorologist at Western Connecticut State University’s weather center, said Sunday is expected to be a “beautiful day,” with highs in the mid-20s but “plenty of sunshine.” Temperatures are expected to rise further in the coming days, he said, reaching the 40s on Wednesday.
As the storm accelerated Saturday, transportation across the state largely came to a pause. All flights in and out of Bradley Airport were canceled, and almost all commuter rail service and bus service was paused.
Additionally, numerous Connecticut towns, including most in the Hartford area, imposed parking bans in an attempt to keep roads clear for plows.
Early Saturday, Lamont implemented a ban on tractor trailer trucks on state highways. Officials said Saturday afternoon they did not know when the ban would end.
Commuter rail and bus service is expected to resume Sunday, Mark Rolfe, Connecticut’s deputy transportation commissioner, said.
Saturday’s snowstorm was expected to bring blizzard conditions and 1-2 feet of snow on parts of Connecticut, with a particularly severe effect in the eastern part of the state.
Meteorologists on Friday predicted the storm could be Connecticut’s biggest since 2017.
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