More wet, windy weather on the way after nor'easter thrashes southeastern Connecticut
Strong wind gusts continued to thrash parts of Connecticut on Wednesday, the continuation of a nor’easter that rolled into the area on Tuesday and brought heavy rain and scattered power outages.
The winds died down later Wednesday afternoon but more wet and windy weather is expected in coming days.
On Wednesday, weather service Accuweather sent out a news release saying the Northeast will be facing another storm system this weekend, though it won’t be as strong as a nor’easter. The service warned that the additional rain and wind could complicate the cleanup process.
Gary Lessor, chief meteorologist at the Western Connecticut State University's Connecticut Weather Center, said Friday will be breezy in southeastern Connecticut, with east-northeast winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour during the day and 15 to 25 mph overnight. Early Saturday morning, 20 mph winds are expected, decreasing throughout the day and becoming much lighter in the afternoon. Gusts will be 25 to 35 mph, with possibly a peak of 40 mph.
By the end of the storm Saturday, Lessor said, the region should see a half-inch to 1½ inches of rain, depending on the track of the storm.
That will follow a nor'easter that pummeled the region with heavy rain and high winds Tuesday and Wednesday, causing thousands to lose electricity.
Power outages have been sporadic throughout the storm. As of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Eversource reported 10,236 people were without power in the state, or 0.8% of its customers. As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, there were 1,999 homes without power, including 83 in Montville, 35 in Stonington and 35 in Ledyard.
As of Wednesday morning, gusts of 54 mph had been reported in New London and 49 mph in Groton, Lessor said.
“The storm has basically been doing a loop off the coast over the last 12 hours. As we go through this afternoon and into tonight, the storm will finally begin to pull away,” he said Wednesday morning.
The western portion of the state received the heaviest rainfall totals, with towns such as Bethany and Monroe reporting near or above 5 inches. Two-day rainfall totals for towns in southeastern Connecticut included: New London, 2.87 inches; Norwich, 2.26 inches; Stonington, 2.68 inches; Waterford, 3.19 inches; and East Lyme, 3.19 inches.
Norwich experienced a quick burst of strong wind, close to 50 mph about 7 a.m. Wednesday, resulting in approximately 1,500 customers losing power, primarily in the downtown, Greeneville and Taftville areas of the city, Norwich Public Utilities reported. Power had been restored to all but five of these customers by 10:30 a.m., NPU said, and the rest were expected to be restored by noon.
East Lyme police Chief Mike Finkelstein at 11 a.m. said there were road closures due to downed trees on Grassy Hill and Walnut Hill roads, as well as smaller roads in Giants Neck Heights. He said multiple Eversource crews were in town addressing the issues.
Any downed wire should be assumed to be live and a potentially lethal hazard. Report any downed wire immediately to 911.
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