A lit snowman on Hawley Lane cast a glow on the first snow of 2014 last Friday night. By Monday, January 6, rain washed away much of the snow and left the region in a record-breaking — but seasonal — temperature drop.                                    

The first snowstorm of 2014 arrived in Newtown less than 48 hours into the new year, and it left a few inches of powdery snow in its wake. Students were sent home early on January 2 — afternoon preschool students never even went to school on Thursday — when the snow arrived a little earlier than expected. Classes at all schools were cancelled on Friday, January 3, and many businesses stayed closed for the day or opened late. The worst of the storm had passed through town by late Friday morning. An average of eight inches of snow was reported, including at Ram Pasture, where the town’s two Christmas trees and illuminated sheep, lambs and reindeer were still being lit for the season on Friday night.