MCHS– When people awoke on Thursday morning in Eastern Connecticut, they were met with more than just a blanket of snow. Fire Chief Marc Scrivener of Willimantic said downtown received around two inches of snow, but that was just an estimate.
According to Scrivener, there were no accidents in Willimantic that required the fire department as of midday.
“Our ambulance was dispatched and canceled for a car off the road in North Windham (Back Road) at 6:35 a.m.,” Scrivener informed us. “The roads were a bit slick at 6:30 a.m. when I came in (my commute is one mile in length), but the plows were out in force.”
Scrivener said his deputy chief believes there was roughly four and a half inches of snow at his Mansfield home.
“The snow was wet, heavy, and compacted quickly,” Scrivener explained.
Taylor Rule, who lives in Windham with her 18-month-old daughter Mackenzie, said the snow day was enjoyable.
“She (Mackenzie) was mesmerized by the snow,” she said. “She was walking around and stomping in the snow.”
Donna Clouette, who lives on Woodland Road in Storrs, reported seeing almost seven inches of snow at her house.
“The snowfall was beautiful because it stuck to the scenery,” Clouette explained. “Very picturesque. Also, because it was sticky, it was ideal for creating snowmen and forts, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. I’m concerned about how the forecasted severe winds this afternoon may affect trees and branches that are already snow-covered. We received roughly seven inches, as usual, little more than portions of town in lower elevations.”
Mansfield Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth stated that their area had four to six inches of snow.
“I think the average was around five inches, some areas might have got six,” Aylesworth told the BBC. “It’s difficult to measure since the snow is heavy, wet, and compresses itself. “If it had been lighter and fluffier, it would have been about eight inches.”
Aylesworth stated that the town deployed crews at 10 p.m. on Wednesday and began with pre-treatment. At noon, a few routes were stopped owing to trees down and other occurrences.
“We were prepared, and we had our equipment ready for the season,” he explained. “The plow blades have to be updated and replaced during the off-season. It was successful, and we expect heavy winds later today.”
Aylesworth believes that with the trees still covered in heavy snow, they will not withstand additional gusts.
“I think our roads are in pretty good shape,” Aylesworth stated.
Clover Mill Road, Highland Road, Mulberry Road, and Gurleyville Road were all stopped or partially obstructed by early afternoon due to low-hanging wires and tree limbs on wires.
According to the Eversource website’s power outage map, 1,117 outages were recorded in the Mansfield area around 1 p.m., accounting for approximately 14.71% of its customers.
CT State Police reported that they got numerous calls during the bad weather between Tolland and Windham counties, which includes Troop C, Troop D, and Troop K.
Troop C Tolland, which includes Mansfield, Coventry, Ashford, Tolland, Vernon, Ellington, Willington, Union, Stafford, and Somers, got 20 calls.
Troop D Danielson, which includes Scotland, Canterbury, Plainfield, Sterling, Killingly, Brooklyn, Hampton, Chaplin, Pomfret, Eastford, Woodstock, Putnam, and Thompson, got 14 calls.
Troop K Colchester, which includes Bolton, Andover, Columbia, Lebanon, Windham, Franklin, Bozrah, Salem, Colchester, East Haddam, East Hampton, Portland, Marlborough, and Hebron, got 22 calls.
State Police responded to approximately 50 motor vehicle incidents across the three counties.
