A state travel ban remains in effect Tuesday outside of Fairfield and Litchfield counties until 2 p.m., though existing and forecasted snowfall in Hartford and New Haven counties is lower than originally anticipated.
Snow continues to fall across much of the state, and a blizzard warning remains in effect until 1 a.m. Wednesday for Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties. The worst of the storm will be over this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
Things will likely return to normal on Wednesday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a press conference this morning, during which he lifted a travel ban for local roads in the western part of the state, where snowfall totals were lower.
“There’s no bad news in not everyone getting three feet of snow,” Malloy said.
At a noon briefing, Malloy announced that the state’s travel ban would be lifted at 2 p.m. and that state employees would return to work Wednesday.
He said there had only been 11 accidents on state highways last night, with one minor injury. He credited the travel ban for limiting what he said could have been hundreds of accidents.
The Hartford area is now expected to receive between eight and 14 inches of snow, according to NWS.
The storm is having the heaviest impact along the I-395 belt. Between 15 and 20 inches had fallen in New London County as of 7 a.m., NWS said.
The state’s electricity and utilities providers had minimal outages Tuesday morning, though nearly 1,600 of CL&P’s Greenwich customers were out around 11:30 a.m.
MetroNorth said it expects to gradually resume service Tuesday on a Sunday schedule, with a regular schedule returning Wednesday.
Bradley Airport closed to air traffic Monday evening, and outgoing flights aren’t expected to resume until at least Wednesday, NBC Connecticut reported.
The governor ordered first and second-shift nonessential state workers to stay home Tuesday, but he said there’s a chance the state could be back up and running for its third shift.
Malloy has also ordered an extension of expiring motor vehicle registrations and licenses, as well as emissions late fees and other credentials. Residents who were unable to complete transactions with the Department of Motor Vehicles because of the storm can do so by Friday, Malloy said.
