Winter Storm Yoshi tore through the state of Connecticut on Monday, January 21st. The storm was expected to bring several inches of snow as well as slick driving conditions. People braced for the storm by stocking up at the local grocery stores and turned on their generators to prevent power outages. According to Channel 3 Meteorologist Mike Cameron, the incoming wind and freezing rain would be the cause of thousands of power outages across the state.
Cameron said in a statement on air, “Power outages may be a real problem as this wind stirs trees that have an immense amount of additional weight due to the ice.”
The storm started as several flurries across the state, and later changed to freezing rain going into Sunday morning. Cities underwent parking bans to try and keep people off the streets. Come Sunday afternoon, the storm ended and an arctic breeze was blowing across the state from the east. Temperatures dropped as low as negative fifteen degrees in the mountains of northwest Connecticut on Monday.
Cameron stated that the 21st of January was the coldest day of 2019 so far. Temperatures in Prospect and Beacon Falls were reaching record lows, only seeing a high of around eight degrees. Any rain left from Sunday froze into a solid inch of ice along side roads and parking lots. Whilst making driving conditions less than safe, trees froze over and branches started falling into roads. Power lines across the state also suffered the freezing cold and ice, leaving thousands without power. Until late Monday morning, the traffic lights in the center of Prospect went out, causing a traffic concern.
Region 16 Schools experienced a bit of trouble caused by Winter Storm Yoshi. Prospect Elementary School experienced flooding in the media center and the hallway, caused by three air handlers in the school that froze over causing the flood. Maintenance was lucky enough to catch the flood early on and clean up is currently in affect. In addition, the parking lots and sidewalks of Woodland, LRMS and PES became a thick sheet of ice, making conditions unsafe for commuters.
Many Connecticut residents are saying Winter Storm Yoshi has had very similar outcomes to the tornado that stormed through the state last May. Bethany and Hamden were experiencing 97% power outages, and a lot of destruction hit due to fallen trees and oversized branches. Cleanup is continuing across the state, however a lot of cleanup will not be able to take place until the ice is fully melted. Officials are encouraging people to stay off the streets if possible, and they hope as the day progresses through Wednesday and Thursday into the weekend that the ice will melt and make conditions more stable.
