Connecticut Weather: Blizzard And Winter Storm Watches Issued In Advance Of Tuesday's Nor'easter

This is getting very serious, very fast. The National Weather Service Saturday afternoon issued a "Blizzard Watch" for coastal areas of Fairfield and New Haven counties and all of Middlesex and New London counties for Tuesday’s major nor’easter.

A "Winter Storm Watch" is in effect for interior sections of Fairfield and New Haven counties along with Hartford and Tolland counties.

For areas under a Blizzard Watch, the National Weather Service is predicting 12-18 inches of snow and winds could gust up to 50 mph at times. The 50 mph wind potential is the key in the issuance of a Blizzard Watch. The storm would begin late Monday and continue for most of Tuesday.

For inland areas of Fairfield and New Haven counties, you’re also expecting 12-18 inches of snow too, but the winds will be a bit less impactful, according to the National Weather Service. Winds here could gust between 30 and 40 mph at times.

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For areas of Hartford and Tolland counties, a Winter Storm Watch is in effect from late Monday and all day Tuesday. The forecast here is for snow to begin around 3 a.m. Tuesday and continue up until midnight. No accumulation estimates were given for northern Connecticut but the issuance of a Winter Storm Watch means that there is the potential for a minimum of six inches of snow.

And while the National Weather Service is bullish on a potential blizzard and major snow accumulation for most of Connecticut, NBC Connecticut Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan is a bit more cautious on snow accumulation estimates and suggests new data shows a bit less accumulation for Connecticut.

Hanrahan is predicting a range of 6 to 12 inches for the entire state of Connecticut.

“Here's our first cut at snowfall totals. There's been a jog east on some of our computer models today that would indicate a more moderate (rather than major storm) but we don't know if that's a burp or a trend yet. So - we'll start things conservatively for now. Some signals are for a much larger system than 6"-12" so stay tuned!

For the rest of today, continued strong gusty winds and temps down into the low teens. It will be cold again on Sunday and Monday but also dry before things get interesting on Tuesday. A brief snow squall is possible Saturday night, which could leave a coating of snow in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.

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