Many residents began digging out from the first big snowstorm of the year on Groundhog Day.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), at least 9.2 inches of snow fell on Newtown by late Monday afternoon, February 1, during a major Nor’easter that stretched from Pennsylvania to northern Maine. The powerful storm included widespread heavy snow, gusty winds, and near-blizzard conditions. It continued well past sunset, bringing another 4.3 inches of snow by midday Tuesday, according to NWS reports.

Fortunately, the storm came with plenty of warning. Advisories and watches were issued by the National Weather Service days ahead of the storm. The watches became a Winter Storm Warning by Sunday afternoon, going into effect at midnight, and precipitation began in the very early hours of Monday, February 1.

School officials had already announced on Sunday that schools — including remote learning — would be closed for the day. Town officials did the same, with First Selectman Dan Rosenthal announcing on Sunday that the Municipal Center would be closed the following day.

Residents who were planning to make their second round of property tax payments, which were due February 1, could make them on Tuesday without penalty, Rosenthal also announced Sunday.

Public Works and Parks & Recreation crews reported to work at 2 am Monday, according to General Supervisor Anthony Capozziello.

“We had set up the equipment so that it was ready,” he said Wednesday morning, as light snow continued falling. The decision to begin working at that hour had been determined ahead of the storm, he explained.

“It was perfect timing,” he added. “It had just started to snow when we came in.”

High winds at times blew snow back into just-plowed roads. That, said Capozziello, was among the biggest challenges for the town employees.

Crews worked straight through Monday into Tuesday, he said. Public Works and Parks & Rec employees went home at 3:30 pm, Tuesday. They returned to work at 2 am on Wednesday.

The town crews used 650 yards of salt and sand material on the roads, Capozziello said.

“That’s about what was expected,” he added. “If it had been an ice storm, we would have used more. With a snowstorm, we put the material down to treat the road, then we plow, and then we put material down again.”

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps was challenged a few times during Monday’s storm, responding to five calls, according to Newtown Emergency Communications Center.

Firefighters responded to a motor vehicle accident on South Main Street near Greenbriar Lane at 5:11 am, Monday. Aside from that, the day was quiet for those first responders.

Newtown Police Lieutenant Aaron Bahamonde said there were a few incidents on the roads Monday and Tuesday, including at least one tractor-trailer truck that became stuck on Mt Pleasant Road.

“The I-84 ban led to back road use by tractor-trailers, and that didn’t always work well,” he said, referring to a temporary travel ban by Governor Ned Lamont. The governor on Sunday announced that all empty and tandem tractor trailers were prohibited from traveling on all limited access highways statewide, and all tractor trailers were prohibited from traveling on Interstate 84 as of 5 am, Monday. That order remained in place until 6 am, Tuesday.

“Once you get one of those stuck, it takes a lot of time” to reopen a roadway, Bahamonde said. Similar incidents with large trucks reportedly happened on South Main Street near Ethan Allen Road, and Hawleyville Road near the Newtown-Brookfield town line.

Local police generally dealt with “multiple disabled vehicles” on both Monday and Tuesday, the lieutenant also noted. On Tuesday, police responded to “several motor vehicle accidents, even though the roads are fairly decent,” Bahamonde said. “People still have to use caution because the road surface is not quite there yet.”

Newtown public school students returned to remote learning on Tuesday. Town offices and other locations, including C.H. Booth Library, had delayed openings.

Slow snowfall that continued for another 24-plus hours added about 1½ inches by Wednesday, February 3.

Punxsutawney Phil reportedly saw his shadow on Tuesday, which means another six weeks of harsh weather. Beardsley Bart, however, a prairie dog at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, did not see his shadow, which translates to Connecticut enjoying an early spring.

The two can duke it out between themselves. The National Weather Service is already advising another chance of snow for Newtown this weekend.