100% of Town Without Power As Rare Fall Snowstorm Pummels Connecticut

According to Connecticut Light & Ppwer's outage map, the entire town of Simsbury is without power Saturday evening. That's more than 10,000 CL&P customers. Click here to see CL&P's full outage map and check on the power status other communities.

As of early Saturday night, the town had opened a shelter at Simsbury High School.

The snow began locally shortly after noon Saturday, and the National Weather Service is currently predicting that between four to eight inches of snow could fall Saturday into early Sunday morning before things are all done.  

According to the weather service, Hartford County residents should expect temperatures in the mid-30s throughout Saturday afternoon, with temperatures dropping to the low-30s Saturday evening, which could cause some freezing and icing of roads. Winds will be from 15 to about 20 miles per hour during the afternoon Saturday, but gusts could reach upwards of 40 miles per hour as of Saturday night, according to the weather service. Since the snow is thick and fluffy, officials have also been warning that it could accumulate on tree branches, possibly bringing some of them down and causing power outages throughout the area.

The snow is predicted to taper off at about 9 a.m. Sunday morning, and temperatures to climb into the mid-40s Sunday afternoon, so the snow is not likely to still be on the ground come Halloween Monday.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is reporting that Route 44 over Avon Mountain is closed due to a high number of vehicular spinouts and accidents.

Motorists are being asked to use caution on roadways and avoid travel if at all possible Saturday.

Tonight's homecoming dance at Simsbury High School has been postponed. It will be rescheduled and the David Vidal Memorial Road Race schedule for Sunday, October 30, has been cancelled due to impending weather.

Tom Roy, the town's director of public works, said the supply of treated salt and all of the trucks are ready. He said the "biggest issue will be the combination of heavy snow on the trees that still have most of their leaves mixed with 40 mph wind."

"This is a bad storm," he said. "It's only going to get worse."

Stick with Patch throughout the storm for the latest updates and closing information.