Thomas Breen file photo
Snow piling up on Orange St. Saturday morning.
A winter storm that walloped parts of the Northeast dropped roughly nine to 12 inches of snow on New Haven Saturday.
Emergency management chief Rick Fontana said that because of high winds, it was difficult to give a precise number of inches of snow that fell on the city. He put the range at between 9 inches and a foot.
United Illuminating’s power outage map showed just before 4 p.m. that no New Haveners have lost power during the storm.
See below for earlier versions of this story.
150 Cars Towed; No Power Outages; "We Got Lucky"
City Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana on Friday.
A braced-for Nor’easter has gone relatively easy on New Haven so far, leaving behind roughly five inches of snow downtown by Saturday morning — with no power outages citywide, and around 150 parking-ban-violating cars towed.
City Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana offered that update in a phone interview with the Independent at around 9:20 a.m.
The city “actually had a pretty good night,” all things considered, Fontana said.
“People really paid attention to the parking ban.” Meaning that the city’s 50 plows, trucks, and other vehicles have been able to start clearing snow from downtown, the snow emergency routes, and residential streets without running up against too many parked cars.
Not everyone has followed the citywide parking ban, though, Fontana said.
In all, the city has issued 217 tickets to parking-ban-violating cars. Of that group, the city has towed roughly 150 vehicles.
Fontana said the city is still expecting around 10 to 12 inches of snow in total. “The snow is going to get heavier” as the morning progresses, he said.
But New Haven did luck out a little bit. “A couple of bands missed us,” he said, dumping snow over the Long Island Sound instead of on the Elm City. “We got lucky.”
Cars parked on the even-numbered side of the street on Lawrence St.
The parking ban will remain in effect until further notice. That means no parking on any streets downtown or on snow emergency routes, and no parking on the odd-numbered sides of the street everywhere else.
New Haveners can still park for free at various New Haven Public Schools and Yale lots, and at reduced rates at various parking authority lots and garages (see below for a full list.)
Fontana said that the city’s Emergency Operations Center has been “fully activated.”
Even though the storm has brought winds gusting at over 30 miles per hour, the city hasn’t had any power outages or tree limbs downed, yet.
“Stay home, have an extra cup of coffee or two,” Fontana advised the public. He said the storm should be over by 3 or 4 p.m. Saturday.
During a video-streamed press conference at noon, Gov. Ned Lamont described the continued snowfall as a “wicked New England storm” currently making its way from west to east. He said the New London/Windham area should expect “much heavier snow” this afternoon.
That said, “the snow so far appears to be a little lighter” than the state anticipated, meaning less impact on trees and utilities — and only around 100 outages statewide by midday.
Lamont said that the state’s tractor-trailer ban on highways, which went into effect at 3 a.m., will remain in place until further notice. Two tractor trailers have been “cited” so far for violating that ban.
Lamont also said that there have been “a couple of terrible automobile accidents” on I‑95, including one rollover, though none resulted in serious injuries.
“I think we’re going to be able to get through this pretty smoothly,” the governor predicted. The most important thing Connecticut residents can do to stay safe is by staying off the roads a little longer, given the continued snowfall and low visibility.
If your car has been towed, call the Police Tow Desk at 203 – 946-2865 or search online here by using your license plate number.
See below for an earlier version of this article.
12-16 Inches Of Snow Expected; Citywide Parking Ban Starts At 10 P.M. Friday
Thomas Breen photos
Front loader at public works HQ fills up on salt in in preparation for coming snowstorm.
Mayor Justin Elicker (right) with other officials at Friday presser.
Get ready for “a big storm, a major event for the City of New Haven” — as city officials anticipate 12 to 16 inches of snow and up to 50 miles per hour winds starting early Saturday morning.
In response, a citywide parking ban will take effect 10 p.m. Friday.
City Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana offered that preview during a city press conference about the coming snowstorm. The noon presser was held Friday at the salt shed at the public works department’s Middletown Avenue headquarters.
Fontana, Mayor Justin Elicker, and a half-dozen top city officials said that the city anticipates getting walloped with between 12 and 16 inches of snow, which should start falling at around 1 a.m. Saturday and continue through most of the morning.
“People should stay off the roads, because we’re going to see potential blizzard-like conditions,” the mayor said. That includes gusts of wind of up to 40 to 50 miles per hour.
Fontana stressed the importance of staying off the roads, especially at the storm’s expected peak at around early- and mid-morning Saturday.
“We expect there to be some dangerous driving conditions,” he said. “Please don’t drive unless you really have to.”
City transportation director Sandeep Aysola.
In response to the coming deluge, the mayor and his team offered the following updates:
• The city will put in place a citywide parking ban at 10 p.m. Friday. That means that cars cannot park on either side of the street downtown and on snow emergency routes, and cars can park on the even-numbered side of the street only in residential neighborhoods. “Don’t be the odd one out,” Elicker repeated throughout the press conference. Meaning: Don’t park on the odd-numbered side of the street in residential neighborhoods, or your car will be tagged and towed.
• City Transportation, Traffic & Parking Director Sandeep Aysola said that New Haveners can park their cars instead for free at a number of New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) and Yale University parking lots, and at a flat $3‑per-day rate at various parking authority garages and lots. See below for a full list of those garages and lots.
• The city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be opening at 6 a.m. Saturday to respond to people in need of help during the storm. To reach the EOC, call 203 – 946-8221 Saturday morning. City Chief Administrative Officer Regina Rush-Kittle said that the police, fire, public works, and public safety communications offices will all be fully staffed tomorrow and will be ready to respond to people experiencing emergencies who call 9 – 1‑1.
CAO Regina Rush-Kittle.
• Elicker and city public works director Jeff Pescosolido said that the city will have 50 trucks out on the streets working to clear New Haven’s roughly 800 streets and 234 miles of roads when the storm hits. Pescosolido said his team will be working 12-hour shifts starting at 11 p.m. Friday. “This could take two, three, four days” to clear,” Fontana added.
• Elicker urged property owners to shovel their sidewalks during the storm, and in particular to clear a path wide enough for wheelchairs.
• The city will be working with the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) to open a warming center at 266 State St. for people experiencing homelessness who have nowhere else to go during the storm.
“It takes us a lot of time to clear the snow,” Elicker said. The city will be clearing the major arteries first, and prioritizing making way for emergency vehicles before coming back to clear residential streets.
“There are many, many roads in the city. We ask for residents to be patient.”
Click below watch the full press conference.
Alternatives to Parking on the Street Beginning at 5:00 p.m. Friday
Downtown Parking Garages: Flat Rate of $3.00 Per Day
Granite Square Garage- 690 State St.
Temple Street Garage- 1 Temple St.
Crown Street Garage- Crown Street College St.
270 State Street Parking Garage
Neighborhood Schools
Betsy Ross- 150 Kimberly Avenue
Conte- 511 Chapel St.
Cross- 181 Mitchell Drive
Career- 140 Legion Avenue
Clinton- 293 Clinton Avenue
Columbus- 255 Blatchley Avenue
Davis- 35 Davis St.
Lincoln Bassett- 130 Bassett St.
King Robinson- 150 Fournier St.
Hill Central- 140 Dewitt St.
Beecher- 170 Derby Avenue
Sheridan- 191 Fountain St.
Daniels- 569 Congress Avenue
Yale University Parking Lots
Lot 11- 409 Prospect St. at the Divinity School
Lot 16- 260 Whitney Avenue; Entrance at Whitney and Humphrey Streets
Lot 22- 260 Whitney Avenue; Entrance at Whitney and Humphrey Streets
Lot 26V- 73 Sachem St; Surface Lot in Front of Ingalls Rink
Lot 47- 280 Washington Avenue
Lot 99- 39 Prince Street
Lot K- 344 Winchester Lot; Behind the 25 Science Park Building
Science Park Garage- 276 Winchester Avenue **No 1st Floor Parking; Use Argyle St.**
All cars must be removed from all parking lots by noon on Sunday unless extended.