An early season winter storm brought snow, sleet, and freezing rain to Connecticut on November 15. The messy storm hung on into Friday morning, adding another layer of mixed precipitation to Newtown’s roads, which were still being cleared from the previous evening. The National Weather Service (NWS) is reporting an average of 8.2 inches of snow fell across Newtown by 3 am Friday.

Due to continued precipitation Friday morning, which continued to create challenging road conditions, by 8:30 am the decision had been made by Newtown Public Schools to extend the morning’s three-hour delay into a full day of canceled classes.

NWS had issued the first Winter Weather Warning of the season by early Thursday afternoon. The warning covered the northern portions of Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex, and New London counties. Residents were told to expect heavy snow and then mixed precipitation over the area before the system moved out of the area.

The timing of the storm was very close to what had been predicted. Many drivers in town encountered heavy snow by 4:30 pm, which slowed most travel on I-84 and the secondary roads. First Selectman Daniel Rosenthal on Friday morning said he heard plenty of stories about long commutes by residents, including family, the previous evening.

“I got home OK, but it sounds like anyone who was not in town, and trying to get home, it took them a long time,” Mr Rosenthal said. “There were stories of five- and six-hour commutes from down county.”

Mr Rosenthal’s father, former First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, was among those working their way north Thursday night.

“My father was coming home from Greenwich, and it took him hours,” the current first selectman said. The timing of the snow was a challenge for many, he said.

“The first snow of the year, to happen in mid-November, and coming it as fast as it did, I think it caught everyone by surprise,” Mr Rosenthal said. “We heard the predictions, but who expects this kind of weather in mid-November? I think people were getting snow rates of two inches an hour, and that came in at rush hour.”

Local Public Works crews did what they could to keep up with the conditions, he said.

“For our crews, the state really didn’t have the presence in town that it’s had in past storms,” Mr Rosenthal said. “A lot of state roads were not done, which meant our town crews had to that care of that.”

Berkshire Road (State Route 34) and Mt Pleasant Road (State Route 6) were among the problematic areas, the first selectman said.

“Anywhere there were hills, our town crews and police were filling in for a lace of presence of the State DOT,” said Mr Rosenthal, who added that it was the number of cars getting stuck on those roads that led to many delays.

“For a lot of people coming home, the number of cars that were stuck were making a lot of the roads impassable,” he said. The first selectman plans, he said, to reach out to the state to make sure state roads have better care in the future.

“We don’t want this to repeat itself,” he said. “Feedback I’ve heard is that local roads were being kept mostly under control — and our crews were out all night, from what I can tell — but it added to their plow runs because they had to sidetrack and try to clear state roads to help folks get moving.”

Newtown Police Lt Aaron Bahamonde reported Friday morning that there were 30 disabled vehicles on roads about town overnight due to the storm. In addition, 14 minor vehicle accidents were reported by 8 am Friday, Lt Bahamonde added.

Connecticut State Police responded to several calls for service and accidents, including one fatal accident, between 4 pm Thursday and 8 am Friday. According to a release from the CSP Public Information Office, troopers responded to 1,341 calls for service, 230 accidents, 2 serious injury accidents, and 10 accidents with minor injury, in addition to an accident on I-95 North in Milford that claimed the life of a pedestrian.

Nearby, New Fairfield received 10 inches of snow, New Milford received 9 inches, Waterbury received 8½ inches, Bethel saw 8 inches, and Danbury had 7.9 inches by 7 am, all according to NWS. Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories were still in effect Friday morning across the Northeast and northern Mid-Atlantic regions.

An NWS Winter Weather Advisory remained in effect until 10 am Friday for Newtown. This means “periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties. Expect snow covered roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving,” according to NWS.

The first selectman issued a reminder Friday morning to plow drivers who push snow into roadways when clearing driveways or lots.

“The snow that falls in people’s driveways belongs on their property,” he said. A Town of Newtown ordinance prohibits the plowing of snow out from a driveway and across a roadway. Doing so can create snow berms, which is both dangerous and illegal.

“It’s unsafe, because you’re actually traveling out into the roadway, and there’s cars, and the roads are slick, and a person could get injured or killed doing that,” Mr Rosenthal said. “It’s also dangerous for other drivers, who could also become injured, or worse, if they hit those piles of snow.”

Mr Rosenthal is hoping this week’s storm is not a precursor of many more storms to come for the 2018-19 season.

“I get worried with the kind of rain patterns we’ve had recently, and all the moisture,” he said. “As the weather gets cold, I hope we can break out of that cycle. “Otherwise I’m afraid we’re in for a long winter.”