Blizzard Watch Issued for West Hartford

The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard watch for Hartford County as a powerful winter storm is expected to affect the region starting Thursday night and lasting into Saturday morning.

West Hartford Director of Public Works John Phillips said he will likely institute a parking ban beginning at 8 a.m. Friday. He and other town officials will be meeting this afternoon to set preparations for the storm and determine whether or not to declare a State of Emergency. Check back later for details.

The blizzard watch will be in effect from Friday afternoon and continue through to Saturday afternoon.

The storm system will bring with it heavy snow, sleet and damaging winds — with gusts blowing up in excess of 60 miles per hour.

Total accumulations are expected to be 18 to 24 inches of snow.

The high winds and heavy snow is expected to make for, at times, white-out conditions, with visibility reduced to less than a quarter of a mile.

"The heavy snow will make for dangers driving conditions," the weather service meteorologists report in their alert. "In addition, the heavy snow and strong winds will result in blizzard conditions, bringing down some tree limbs and causing scattered power outages."

A winter storm watch that had been issued earlier this week has now been canceled, with the blizzard watch issued in its place.