Connecticut residents won’t have to wait long for the first snowfall of 2014.
A storm on Thursday and Friday should bring 4 to 8 inches of fluffy, light snow, FOX CT meteorologist Rachel Frank said. Light snow will begin around very early Thursday morning and increase in intensity as the day goes on, Frank said.
The snow will become steadier and a bit heavier Thursday night into early Friday morning before tapering off, she said.
Thursday and Friday also will be frigid, with high temperatures in the teens on Friday and the chance for some parts of the state to dip below 0 during the coldest hours.
“It’s not a blockbuster storm,” Frank said. “But we’ll get enough snow to at least cause some travel issues.”
State police are making sure the department’s four-wheel drive vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and other specialized equipment are working.
“We open up the tool box and get everything ready,” state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance.
The equipment will be spread throughout the state. Extra troopers will also be deployed to “make sure we have an added blanket of protection,” Vance said.
“We’ll put extra personnel on the road to make sure no one is stranded, to make sure the roads are clear so the Department of Transportation can do its job [plowing the roads],” he said.
He advised drivers to pay attention to weather forecast and to make sure their vehicles have proper tires and gas.
“If you don’t need to go out, stay off the road. If you have to go out, use extreme caution — decrease your speed,” Vance said.
On Tuesday, Bridgeport mayor Bill Finch declared a snow emergency for the city beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
Schools officials in several districts said it is too soon to tell if the weather will affect classes on Thursday.
Abbe Smith, spokeswoman for New Haven Public Schools, said school officials would decide on Thursday morning whether to cancel classes.
“We’ll monitor the weather and make a decision on Thursday,” she said.
In Bloomfield, students are not scheduled to return to school until Jan. 6 and the weather will not impact the district’s plans, said Bloomfield Superintendent of Schools James Thompson.
State officials also are monitoring the storm and the cold weather outbreak, said Samaia Hernandez, a spokeswoman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Depending on the impact of the storm, a decision to open the Emergency Operations Center could be made, she said.