Winter Storm — Northern Middlesex, Connecticut

2018-01-04 · Northern Middlesex, Connecticut

Event narrative

A CoCoRaHS observed 1 NE of Westbrook reported 7.7 inches of snow. The public reported 10.5 inches in Clinton. Near-blizzard conditions occurred across Northern Middlesex County, but the heaviest snow bands did not persist long enough to meet blizzard criteria.

Wider weather episode

The development of the blizzard/winter storm began along the southeast coast on Wednesday January 3, 2018. An amplifying upper level trough spawned the development of low pressure off the coast of Florida. The low pressure rapidly intensified on Wednesday night through Thursday January 4, 2018 as it moved north-northeast along the coast. The low passed just east of the 40N 70W benchmark Thursday afternoon. The central pressure when the storm developed was around 1004 millibars at 1 pm Wednesday. 24 hours later, the central pressure fell to around 950 mb, approximately a 54 millibar drop. The rapid intensification of the storm led to heavy snow, strong winds, and blizzard conditions across Fairfield and New London Counties. Near-blizzard conditions occurred in New Haven and Middlesex counties due to the heaviest snow bands setting up to the east and west. Thundersnow was also observed across southeast Connecticut.

System-wide delays and cancellations occurred on the Metro North Railroad. Thousands of homes and businesses also lost power.

There were numerous other accidents across southern Connecticut.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 736974. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.