CONNECTICUT, USA — While it won't be a white Christmas, it will be a wet and windy one, with a storm set to hit Connecticut just in time for the holiday.
A big storm will be developing in the central and eastern part of the country by Thursday and tracking straight for the state on Friday with heavy rain and wind. Sustained winds could top 25MPH and gusts are possible into the 50's.
This will not be a snowstorm for southern New England. Despite the cold air during the first half of this week, that cold will retreat, and the storm will send mild air and mostly rain into our region.
Instead of inches of snow, Connecticut will likely see anywhere from 1.5" to 3" of rain by Friday night. Utility companies said that's more than enough rain to saturate the soil and topple trees.
With such a storm hitting so close to Christmas, and while Hannukah is ongoing this week, Eversource said they would be working around the clock to ensure they have many crews. This includes additional line and tree crews and extra resources from across the region. Specifically, Eversource has 300 extra power line crews, 100 extra crews to clear blocked roads and 200 additional crews to work on everything from underground repair to damage assessment.
Eversource said the forecasts show the potential for widespread impacts, including downed trees and power outages. The company said they are declaring a level 5 alert beginning at noon Friday which brings the potential for as many as 125,000 customer outages or roughly 10% of their total customers. The company sent a mass text alert Wednesday warning customers that some may experience, 'multi-day' outages.
“We recognize the timing of this storm, right before Christmas, is less than ideal and we’re taking all necessary actions now so our team is ready to respond to whatever this storm may bring,” said President of Eversource Connecticut Steve Sullivan. “We’ll have crews prepositioned at our work centers throughout the state before the storm hits so they can immediately get to any damaged locations and restore power as quickly as possible. Our employees who work in the field and behind the scenes are ready to give up their holiday time off to ensure our customers can enjoy their Christmas weekend."
Eversource said that because the storm is so large, they've had to compete with other utilities to get additional crews to come in from out of state.
"We got in early on this event and we’ve been able to muster significant restoration staff. We went as far South as Texas and as far North as Canada," said Sullivan.
Connecticut's other major electric utility, United Illuminating told FOX61 they are preparing for up to 17,000 customer outages. They service more than a dozen mainly shoreline communities.
You can help yourself prepare for a possible outage by packing a preparedness kit. It should include a flashlight, batteries, food, water, a first-aid kit and a radio.
Eventually in Connecticut, utility companies will have their profits tied to their performance. As part of the 'Take Back Our Grid Act' of 2020, the legislature put in place a power restoration incentive structure in the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias. PURA, the state utility regulator is still trying to determine exactly how to implement that performance-based structure.
"We always work to respond in the quickest and safest way possible to our customers. Regardless of what the regulations might be," explained Bob Brown, spokesperson for United Illuminating.
Back to the forecast - Rain will move in between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday. It will initially start light, and winds won't be an issue for the evening commute.
Friday morning is warm, wet, and windy as temperatures rise into the 50s with a gusty east-southeast wind.
Friday morning is when coastal flooding is expected to peak. Widespread moderate coastal flooding is forecast with a Coastal Flood Watch in effect. Water levels could come up 1.5' - 2.5' higher than average. In addition, waves will be blowing towards the coast up to 3' to 5'. Coastal areas should make preparations for the storm.
After the rain moves out, temperatures will plummet in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
This could result in untreated surfaces and areas of standing water freezing over.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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