Old Man Winter Knocks At Newtown’s Door

By Tanjua Damon

Harbingers of winter blew through Newtown with a fury earlier this week. A windstorm on Tuesday caused tree limbs and wires to fall. Then an ice storm hit the area early Thursday morning.

Various fire companies in the Newtown area attended to 25 calls throughout the day December 12. A tree fell on a house on Bungalow Terrace in Sandy Hook, and wires were down on various streets throughout Newtown.

At 9:15 am Tuesday, Sandy Hook firefighters responded to 26 Bungalow Terrace in Riverside, where a large pine tree had been blown down onto a house by high winds. The tree caved in the roof of the house above a bedroom, which was occupied by property owner Jill Bossert, said Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead. She was not injured. The roof can be repaired, Mr Halstead said.

Wires were blown down on Birch Rise Drive, Taunton Lane, Taunton Hill Road, Birch Hill Road, Oak View Road, Taunton Lake Road, South Main Street, Elm Drive, Sugar Lane, Covered Bridge Road, Pepperidge Road, Orchard Hill Road, and Flat Swamp Road.

Winds came in from the northwest, according to Gary Lessor, assistant director of the Weather Center at Western Connecticut State University. Wind gusts peaked at 47 miles per hour, but mostly stayed between 20 and 30 miles per hour.

The storm began in Chicago and moved to Maine, according to Lessor. The pressure was low in Maine and high in Chicago, when more high-pressure air from Montana helped caused gradient pressure.

“An area of low pressure moving by to the north was rapidly strengthening and the same system brought another area of high pressure, gradient pressure, it gets dangerous,” Mr Lessor said. “That’s why we had the gusty winds.”

Temperatures were unseasonably high, according to Mr Lessor. On Tuesday temperatures were in the mid-50s and later dropped to seasonal temperatures in the 30s.

“Although it may have felt very cold, it was only getting back to seasonal temperatures,” Mr Lessor said. “Wind has no function on the temperature. It didn’t bring the cold air in.”

And if the gusty winds were not enough for Newtown and the surrounding area, during the early morning hours of Thursday old man winter dragged an ice storm up the eastern seaboard, canceling school for the day in Newtown and throughout Connecticut.

The sleet began about 1:30 in the morning Thursday, according to Mr Lessor. Then freezing rain followed behind. The storm was expected to move out between 9 and 10 am.

“That will be the end,” Mr lessor said. “We have received four tenths of an inch of rain, with most of the precipitation falling within three hours.”

The initial sleet made a base on roads and sidewalks before the freezing rain moved in, according to Mr Lessor. The temperatures are expected to rise to the 40s Thursday.

Another system is moving out of the Plains from the west that will bring rain late Saturday into early Sunday. There may be a few snow showers or flurries, according to Mr Lessor. But the snow drought continues in the area.

“Despite very cold weather, we can’t seem to get the precipitation and temperatures together,” he said. “Since we are not getting any cold and moisture at the same time there has not been snow.”