More than 10 days after the start of spring, Mother Nature played a cruel, belated April Fools joke Monday morning, dropping about a half-foot of snow in places and triggering school delays, spinouts and rollovers.
By 12:30 p.m., it was all but over in Hartford, with residual flurries lightly floating from the brightening sky.
The weather service issued a winter weather advisory until 2 p.m. Monday. Accumulations of 4-6 inches were expected in the Hartford area and in much of the state, although as many as 8 inches were possible in the southern part of the state. Less than 4 inches were expected in the north, the National Weather Service said.
Roads were especially slick during the morning commute in the southern part of Connecticut, where snow started sticking to roads faster. There were reports of cars spinning out and crashing on the Wilbur Cross Parkway.
Easton police were at the scene of a crash on Morehouse Road during the morning rush. In a Facebook post about 8:45 a.m., they said the roads are “extremely dangerous.”
In Danbury, where roads were covered with snow at times, there was a rollover crash on I-84 west with a minor injury, state police said. Schools in the city were closed for the day.
Calls to AAA from Hartford-area motorists who needed help were steady, but not as voluminous as during cold-weather storms when batteries tend to fail, said spokeswoman Amy Parmenter. The organization received about 250 calls for service roughly between 6 and 10 a.m., many from motorists who needed a tow.
Snow started falling well before dawn. At 5:15 a.m., snow was spreading across Connecticut, the weather service said. It continued to lightly fall in the Hartford area at dawn.
By about 9:30 a.m., the snow was falling heavily in Hartford, although driving conditions still weren’t as bad as in the southern part of the state.
There are more chances for snow later in the week. On Tuesday, a slushy mixture of rain and snow is expected before 1 p.m., followed by rain and sleet, and after 2 p.m., just rain.
Thunderstorms are likely on Wednesday, and although Thursday will be mostly sunny, there’s a chance of snow showers — which might be mixed with rain — Friday morning, the weather service said
Looking back at March, temperatures averaged 37 degrees, 0.8 degrees below normal. Precipitation measured 2.65 inches, or 0.97 inches below normal, and snowfall was 10.2 inches above normal.
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