UPDATE (Friday, December 18, 2020): This story has been updated to clarify that while there were less than 100 power outages in Newtown during the December 16-17 overnight hours, all were restored by Eversource by late Thursday morning.

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Newtown was blanketed with nearly a foot of snow after a winter storm moved through town Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.

The first Nor’easter of the season arrived around 7 pm, December 16. Approximately 14 hours later, the snow was tapering off but the wind remained. Gusts meant additional challenges for those working to clear with plows, snowblowers, and shovels.

The storm was not a surprise, fortunately. Talk about the approaching weather began in earnest at the beginning of the week. By Wednesday afternoon, Newtown Public Schools had announced Thursday would be a break from remote learning, marking the first school snow day of the 2020-21 academic year. C.H. Booth Library closed early Wednesday, and stayed closed all day Thursday. Newtown Municipal Center and Newtown Community Center, among many other entities, were closed on Thursday.

A Winter Storm Warning issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) covered the entire state from mid-Wednesday afternoon until early Thursday afternoon. The storm that reached Newtown was part of what the weather service deemed “a significant December winter storm” that “blanketed parts of the eastern United States from the central Appalachians to New England.”

By 7:45 Thursday morning, one National Weather Service spotter was reporting 9½ inches of snow for Newtown.

As of 8 am, Eversource was reporting 356 power outages and United Illuminating/Avangrid were reporting 100 outages across the state. Less than 100 were reported by Eversource for Newtown during the overnight hours. By 11 am, the online outage map from Eversource showed 0 outages for this town.

Public Works crews began working against the storm at 6 pm Wednesday, according to Public Works General Supervisor Anthony Capozziello. A few breakdowns of equipment cost some time, he said Thursday afternoon, but he expected the town employees would still be finished on Thursday by about 5 pm.

“Everything went smooth with the storm itself,” he said. “The snow was powdery when it was cold, and falling. When the sun came out, it made it into a wet snow because it started melting a bit.”

Town crews use a 1-1 mix of sand-salt on the local roads. Capozziello said this storm used approximately 820 yards of that material. The figure, he pointed out, includes road work and some municipal parking lots.

Parks & Rec employees plow the parking lots for schools, “with the Board of Ed employees, who also have plows,” Capozziello noted. Parks & Rec employees also handle plowing at the municipal center, community center, and police station.

“We then go in and put down the salt-sand,” Capozziello said of Public Works crews. “We’re responsible for putting down the product because we have the spreaders.”

‘Bare Minimum’ Of Accidents Statewide

Governor Ned Lamont on Wednesday announced a 12-hour ban of tractor-trailer trucks and tandem trailers on state highways. The ban went into effect at 9 pm, Wednesday, and was done in conjunction with neighboring states.

Thursday morning Lamont was pleased to announce that the effort, along with a request for nonessential travel to be limited, resulted in “some isolated incidents,” but “very little at this point” in terms of road incidents.

“Keeping the tractor trailer trucks off the road, I think that kept the accidents to a bare minimum,” he said.

As of 9 am Thursday, Connecticut State Police had reportedly responded to 583 calls for service, 46 motor vehicle accidents, and 131 motor vehicle assists, according to the governor’s office.

On their Facebook page Thursday morning, Newtown Police Department posted a request from Sgt Jeff Silver.

“Nonessential travel should be avoided while highway crews work diligently to clear the roadways. Please stay home if possible and enjoy the snow,” Silver noted.

By early afternoon, Sgt Silver told The Newtown Bee that state roads were “in pretty good shape,” and town roads looked “like they have a good handle on them.” Snow began falling again around midday, he noted, “so they’re trying to keep up with it, but it’s going to take some time.”

Most motorists did stay off the roads when the snow was falling, he confirmed.

“On my way in this morning, it was pretty quiet,” the sergeant said. He said there were a few reports of disabled vehicles in town during the overnight hours, and no accidents to report.

“For the most part, everybody’s staying off the roadway and letting the highway department guys do their jobs.”

Even by mid-afternoon, a drive over some of the town’s main roads — including Wasserman Way and sections of Berkshire Road and South Main Street — was met with very few private vehicles. Those that were out at that hour were still town and state plows, or contractors.

With frigid temperatures expected to continue, Lamont on Thursday morning ordered the state’s Severe Cold Weather protocol, originally to be in place until noon Friday, December 18, to be extended through noon Saturday, December 19.

Approximately 30 shelters are open throughout Connecticut. Anyone in need of shelter should call 211 to be connected to those services.