The shoreline may see 17 inches of snow this week as a winter storm moves through the area Wednesday evening into Thursday afternoon.

The National Weather Service on Monday issued a winter storm watch for the region, warning of heavy snow along the coast, accompanied by wind gusts up to 45 mph. The storm watch is in effect from 2 p.m. Wednesday until 1 p.m. Thursday with meteorologists predicting 12 to 17 inches of snow.

According to Western Connecticut State University Meteorologist Gary Lessor, a fluffy, dry snow will begin between 6 and 9 p.m. Wednesday and continue falling until 7 a.m. Thursday, making for a slow, early morning commute.

"Travel will be drastically slowed if not briefly halted during the height of the storm," which is expected to be between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Thursday, said Lessor.

According to the weather service's storm watch, "travel could be very difficult to impossible" during that time period.

"If you have to go into work Thursday, give yourself plenty of time, or better yet, telecommute," said Lessor.

Municipalities across Southeastern Connecticut have already begun preparing for the storm.

In New London, city officials and public works employees will have an "all hands" meeting over Zoom Tuesday morning to discuss the impending snowfall. The city has already mapped out and staffed all of its plow routes.

"We're in good shape," said New London Mayor Michael Passero. "We're prepared for the worst, for snowmagedon, but we're hoping that we'll get less snow here on the immediate coast."

One of the main challenges New London faces in the event of a severe storm, Passero said, is the question of where to put all of the plowed and shoveled snow.

The city may issue a parking ban in the downtown area for the duration of the storm, prohibiting residents from parking on the street. If that ban goes into effect, residents will be asked to park their vehicles in the Water Street parking garage for free until the ban is lifted. Having streets cleared from parked cars allows plows to clear the streets more quickly, Passero said.

For residents who live further from the center of downtown, parking bans will prohibit residents from parking on the side of the streets where houses have odd numbers. This year, residents can park on the side of the street with even numbers during all storms that lead to parking bans.

The city also will be implementing the use of a new enhanced salt this winter that will be spread around the city a few hours before the snowfall is expected to start.

Passero said that the city's Public Works Department is fully staffed and there won't be any manpower shortages due to COVID-19.

He said the city also already has worked out plans for shelters, in the event of a state of emergency, that will safely follow CDC guidelines. "We've already coordinated closely with the Homeless Hospitality Center and other social services agencies and we believe we have everything in place to provide shelter for anyone that needs it," Passero said.

In East Lyme, the workforce is a bit smaller than usual — six or seven employees across town departments are quarantined due to potential COVID-19 exposures, according to First Selectman Mark Nickerson.

He said those who are quarantined but can come into work without coming into contact with anyone else — such as plow drivers — may be called back in, if necessary.

The first selectman said the town will be operating as safely as possible.

"We're going to take some extra measures to make sure our plows are sanitized, our break rooms are wiped down and cleaned and our truck and plow drivers are provided with food safely," Nickerson said.

East Lyme officials met via Zoom on Monday "just to get everybody on the same Zoom page" about the storm, Nickerson said. They're prepared to handle power outages and emergency sheltering if necessary, but aren't expecting those things with this storm.

Nickerson said they have multiple plans in place, depending on the severity of the storm, and will be waiting to see what the forecast is Tuesday afternoon before implementing parking bans or a state of emergency.

After this summer's tropical storm left thousands without power for days, Nickerson said he is concerned about power outages and Eversource's response, but said he's already seen improvements with the utility company's communication and hopes it will continue to communicate more effectively with municipalities.

Groton Town Manager John Burt said his town is prepared for whatever comes Wednesday.

"We are fully stocked on salt in preparation for the storm," Burt said. "We plow around the clock until the snow stops, there is bare pavement and the snow pushed back to (the) curb to be ready for any additional snow.  We will have all vehicles fueled and operational in time for the snow."

Rob Brule, first selectman of Waterford, said the COVID-19 pandemic will not be affecting snow removal, storm preparations of emergency services, and town departments are fully staffed.

"Waterford is prepared for the storm and to serve," he said.

The town issued a message to residents Monday on Facebook, encouraging them to start getting ready for the storm early by making sure they have all medications they need and prepping their vehicles for the snow with full fuel tanks and cold weather windshield washer solution.

On Monday, employees from the Public Works Department mounted snow plows and checked salting equipment while staff from Waterford's Senior Services called residents who may have special needs during storms and power outages and worked to make sure anyone who needs food has it ahead of the storm.

The town's emergency management director will be working with Eversource to mitigate any power outages and had prepared "reverse 911 calls" to make sure residents receive necessary updates.

Temperatures will hit a low of 31 degrees Wednesday with a 100 percent chance of snow. On Thursday, heavy snow will continue through the early afternoon, with snow showers possible until 3 p.m. Temperatures will drop to 21 degrees at night, according to the weather service.

On Friday night, temperatures are expected to drop even more, to as low as 19 degrees. Over the weekend, temperatures will hover in the 30s Saturday before climbing back up to the mid 40s on Sunday, the weather service said.

t.hartz@theday.com