Morning Commute a Slippery One: Black Ice Presents Hazard

The ice storm that has plagued Connecticut with slick conditions since early Tuesday has caused power outages, accidents and delayed school openings Wednesday.

The National Weather Service says the morning commute is a dangerous one. Travelers are advised to use caution while driving on bridges, overpasses and secondary and tertiary roads.

"The combination of ground temperatures radiating to around freezing and the moist ground had created areas of black ice on untreated roadways early this morning," the NWS says. The threat of lingering black ice will end by 9 a.m.

East Haddam Public Schools will open two hours late today.

CL&P is reporting 2,520 customers without power, 59 of which are in Haddam.

Second Update:

The Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security has issued a storm update, with freezing rain expected through 11 p.m. Tuesday.

"Light rain and scattered pockets of freezing rain tapering off to drizzle from Southwest to Northeast between 8 and p.m. Additional power outages are likely during the next several hours.

CL&P reports 1 percent of customers (15,148) statewide are without power this evening, including 19 in Haddam and four in East Haddam.

"Another area of moisture in the Ohio Valley will move over our area during the night and may keep the drizzle and some very light freezing rain going overnight," the DEMHS reports.

"Becoming somewhat colder by daybreak on Wednesday with black ice forming on some untreated roads, especially in the Northwest Hills.

Flooding is an issue in the Haddams, with reports coming in that Route 154 (Saybrook Road) in Haddam has up to 3 inches of water in spots from the rainfall and melting snow.

Original story:

Snow, sleet and freezing rain is falling in Southern Middlesex County — and expected, according to the National Weather Service, to continue throughout the early afternoon Tuesday, making roads a slippery mess.

Regional School District 17, Haddam-Killingworth, and East Haddam Elementary Schools are closed, as is the East Haddam Senior Center. Haddam Town Offices are operating on a delayed schedule due to the weather.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy urged residents to exercise caution during the morning commute. "I'm urging people to take it slow, drive carefully, and be aware of any icing that may occur."

Temperatures, according to the NWS, will hover in the 20s Tuesday morning, and inch upward to just above the freezing mark later by late morning. However, "even though air temperatures may rise above freezing after daybreak across portions of the area, surface temperatures will likely not rise to above freezing until mid- to late morning."