Late Tuesday night, WTNH meteorologist Geoff Fox was poring over the latest numbers on the snowstorm expected to hit the state this morning.

"Well, we already have a winter storm warning," Fox said. "That means they're not screwing around with this one.

"It's probably not going to hit (southeastern Connecticut) first thing in the morning. It probably won't be there when the morning paper hits the doorstep."

Fox said he thinks the storm will start out as wet snow or sleet, then start to kick up with gusty winds. Northeast winds are expected to create drifts and near-blizzard conditions along with the potential for power outages.

"By the early afternoon, this will be a classic nor'easter: strong winds, moderate to heavy snow, limited visibility ... it'll be the customary 'if you don't have to go out, don't' kind of day."

The storm, he said, could last until the early hours of Thursday - and could pack some surprises.

"We could get some thunder snow, including down along the coast. That requires an explosive development in the storm for that to happen," Fox said. "From the looks of things, I'd say the state is probably going to come crawling to a halt."

Gary Lessor, a meteorologist at the Connecticut Weather Center at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, said the nor'easter is going to hit cities and towns from the mid-Atlantic to Maine with at least 8 inches of snow.

"There's a large swath carrying 8 to 16 inches of accumulation," Lessor said Tuesday night, fresh off what he feared might be his last 5-mile jog for a few days.

Lessor said eastern Connecticut could get up to 16 inches, depending on how the storm tracks. Like Fox, he said there is some concern about the potential for sleet, which would keep totals down but would be messy once the storm changes back over to snow.

Lessor said winds will blow steadily in the 15- to 25-mph range with gusts of up to 45 mph, creating poor visibility. He said he's particularly concerned about the mid-morning through the afternoon rush hour.

He said the region could see another storm system as soon as Monday, but declined to speculate on its size or intensity.

Big-time rush

Earlier Tuesday, area residents located their ice scrapers and shovels and then bought milk, bread and eggs and a tank of gas in preparation for the storm.

Customers at the ShopRite supermarkets in Norwich and New London were grabbing bags of rock salt for their sidewalks and driveways, along with basic foodstuffs like milk, bread and eggs, said supermarket owner Ken Capano Sr.

"We have rock salt in the entranceway, by the registers, pallets of it in the back room," he said. "That's one of the items you try never to run out of. We're prepared for the big storms because we stock up early."

BJ's in Waterford stayed open through 10 p.m. Tuesday, an hour later than normal, and planned to open an hour earlier than usual, at 8 a.m. today, because of the increase in traffic the store was seeing, said Shauna Gallagher, a corporate spokeswoman with the Natick. Mass.-based company. Milk and eggs were also big sellers at BJ's Tuesday, she said.

Customers were making sure they had a full tank of gas in advance of a day of ice and snow, said Allison Evans-Trombino, the office manager at Evans Mobil in Pawcatuck.

For the most part, Capano and Evans-Trombino said, people had already bought the ice scrapers, shovels and windshield-wiper fluid needed for snowstorms when the first storm of the season hit.

"I don't know if they need as much of the paraphernalia because they get it early on," Capano said.

Other quick sellers, he noted, are fire logs.

Getting down to business

The state Department of Transportation garage in Groton was busy Tuesday as crews prepared equipment for the storm. The Groton garage is responsible for Interstate 95 from the Rhode Island border to the New London side of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.

Chris White, a DOT maintainer/truck driver whose truck can clear a 28-foot swath, covers the highway from Route 27 in Mystic to the Gold Star.

"You get a little excited," White said about the impending storm. "It's a lot of fun and it's a lot of work. You've got a lot to worry about driving something this big down the road."

In Norwich, some storm preparations had a more playful bent.

"Forget all the school, sports and meeting cancellations," said Beryl Fishbone, volunteer program coordinator at the Leffingwell House Museum in Norwich. She invited all Norwich residents to enter a friendly snow sculpture contest on their lawns, city greens and the lawn that surrounds the Leffingwell Museum at 348 Washington St.

"Prizes and rewards are the smiles and laughter that will be heard as we all play in the snow," Fishbone said in a press release.

She did set a few safety rules: No sculptures should be higher than 6 feet tall. And no caves, tunnels or other collapsible structures should be built.

Business owners were also keeping an eye on the forecast. Both casinos will be open, while making plans to house workers if they can't make it back home.

"At least it's not snowing on a weekend," said Mitchell Etess, Mohegan Sun's chief executive officer. "From a business standpoint, if it's going to snow, let it be during the week."