Winter Storm in Connecticut, January 25 to 26, 2000

A strong low pressure system (Nor'easter) moved north to northeast, passing just east of Montauk Point before Midnight on January 25th.Snow developed between 5 and 6 am along the immediate coast and spread rapidly north during the morning rush hour. Snowfall rates up to 2 inches per hour occurred during the peak of the morning rush hour. White-out conditions caused massive traffic interruptions. Snowfall during the morning commute ranged from less than 2 inches at Groton (Coastal New London County) to around 5 inches at Darien (Coastal Fairfield County). As warm air in the lower levels wrapped around this storm, snow changed to freezing rain and sleet. From mid-morning through late afternoon, light freezing rain fell along the coast with a mixture of freezing rain and sleet inland. As the low approached Long Island, bands of moderate to heavy precipitation rotated northwest around the low. A mixture of heavy snow and sleet fell across this area after 9 pm.Here are selected snowfall amounts from this storm for:Fairfield County: from 4 inches at Bridgeport to 8.5 inches at New Canaan. At Danbury, 7 inches was measured.Northern New Haven County: from 6.3 inches at Beacon Falls to 7 inches at Waterbury.From 3 to 5 inches of snow fell across Coastal New Haven (4.5 inches at New Haven), Middlesex, and Northern New London Counties and less than 2 inches occurred along Coastal New London County.This low was preceded by strong northeast winds that gusted from 40 to 45 mph. In addition, minor tidal flooding occurred across parts of the shores bordering Long Island Sound west of New Haven around the times of high tides during the early afternoon.