Snow may affect commute Friday morning, beyond

HARTFORD – A little bit of snow might slow Friday morning’s commute, and a bigger storm could drop as much as a foot of snow, plus rain, sleet and freezing rain, on the holiday weekend.

Up to 2 inches of snow is expected to fall Thursday into Friday, according to Gary Lessor, chief meteorologist at the Western Connecticut State University Weather Cen- ter. The snow should clear Friday afternoon, with temperatures near 40 degrees, he said.

The temperature will drop Saturday to the upper 20s and the storm approaches. Snow will spread over the southwestern part of the state first on Saturday night, though the Hartford area won’t see flakes until close to midnight, Lessor said.

One forecasting model, Lessor said, shows that up to a foot of a snow could fall late Saturday into early Sunday. But Lessor said that model has been inaccurate so far this winter, and, as of Wednesday, it was too soon to make such a snowfall prediction with certainty.

As of Wednesday night, Lessor said it is more likely 2 to 8 inches may fall before the snow changes to a wintry mix Sunday morning. The National Weather Service says this precipitation potpourri will include rain, sleet and freezing rain — which is rain that doesn’t freeze until it hits cold surfaces. It may all change back to snow Sunday afternoon, Lessor said. Snowfall should end sometime Sunday night.

Sunday will be windy and cold, with temperatures in the teens. Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, will have wind chills near 0, but it should be sunny.