CT Weather: Winter Storm Watch Issued For Tolland/Windham County

CONNECTICUT — In an update Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for Tolland and Windham counties for the potential for six or more inches of snow accumulation Saturday.

The weather service said to expect "heavy wet snow" and snow accumulating 4-8 inches and winds could gust up to 35 mph. For the rest of the state there doesn't seem to be much of a change as the greater Hartford area may see 1-2 inches and the far interior sections of southern Connecticut could see an inch of snow.

The Interstate 95 corridor will only see plain rain and strong wind gusts.

CONNECTICUT — It appears some areas of northern Connecticut will see accumulating snow on Saturday but southern Connecticut may only end up with heavy rain and strong wind gusts.

It's possible that some flakes may mix in at the very end on Saturday night but no snow accumulation is expected in southern Connecticut. However, in northern Connecticut it's possible there could be some accumulating snow, the most is forecast for Tolland and Windham counties where 2-4 inches of snow is expected. In Hartford County, 1-2 inches is possible, especially in higher elevations.

Some light rain showers will develop across all of Connecticut Friday afternoon and the heaviest rain is expected Saturday morning and afternoon. Northern areas are forecast to see the changeover to snow on Saturday afternoon. The storm ends Saturday night. Sunday looks sunny and cold with temps in the low 40s.

WTNH News 8 Chief Meteorologist Gil Simmons said, "Some clouds and some sunny breaks today with a spotty shower. I do expect some light rain to show up for this evening, so I would take the umbrella! High temperatures today in the 40s (to) low 50s. Plan on heavy rain tonight and tomorrow morning state wide. Windy too! There will be some snow mixing in and it will change to snow before ending tomorrow afternoon and evening. It looks like the higher elevation areas could get 3 inches to 5 inches. Not much at all at the shoreline other than a little coating on some of the grassy areas."

Here is the latest guidance from the National Weather Service for southern Connecticut:

"Deepening low pressure is expected to pass south of Long Island Saturday, and east of Cape Cod early Saturday night. The storm will produce locally heavy rain at the onset, which could produce minor urban and poor drainage flooding, and potentially minor flooding along a few quick responding streams and already swollen rivers.

"As the storm intensifies and tracks east of the area, the rain may end as a period of wet snow north and west of New York City before ending with only minor, if any accumulation expected. In addition to the heavy precipitation, strong northeast winds will gust to 35 to 45 mph at times, especially along the coast Saturday and Saturday evening. This will also present the potential for minor coastal impacts with the Saturday morning high tides.

"Due to the lack of a true cold air source the precipitation should fall in the form of mainly rain, although northern and northwestern areas may see a mix with or a brief changeover to snow as cold air gets wrapped in behind the deepening and departing system on Saturday. The best chance at seeing this would be in the hills well inland. The precipitation is expected to taper off and end quickly during Saturday afternoon from west to east. Liquid precipitation totals look to be on the order of 1 to 1.5 inches mainly from NYC and points east, with amounts trailing off heading west of
NYC. "

Here is the forecast guidance for northern Connecticut:

A chance of rain showers developing after 2 p.m. Friday and it will be warm with temperatures still over 50 degrees. The rain showers continue tonight and a quarter of an inch of rain is forecast as temperatures decrease to around 40 degrees overnight.

There may be some fog in the morning hours on Saturday and the precipitation should remain all rain Saturday morning. After 12 p.m. Saturday the rain will transition to snow, especially in Tolland and Windham counties, and 2-4 inches of snow could accumulate. Areas north of Hartford could pick up a couple of inches while the Hartford area may see up to an inch of snow.

In Litchfield County, some snow is expected, especially in higher elevations where 1-2 inches is possible on Saturday. "Should the storm track further inland, higher snowfall amounts may be possible and a winter weather advisory may be needed," the weather service said specifically for Litchfield County.

The precipitation will end late Saturday and temps will be free-falling throughout the day on Saturday.