WEATHER UPDATE: Manchester's Hour-By-Hour Snow Forecast

By Brian McCready (Patch Staff)

The projected accumulation totals for this latest winter storm isn’t the real story here.

The real news, is that the snow will be still be falling during Thursday morning’s commute, so please exercise caution when driving. Temperatures overnight in Manchester are expected to hover around the freezing point, so some snow or sleet may melt overnight, creating slippery, icy conditions for drivers as the temperature goes below freezing in the morning. Rain may also come down overnight and freeze in the morning.

The storm itself isn’t that impressive. The National Weather Service rescinded its Winter Storm Watch it had posted earlier on Wednesday for southern Fairfield, southern New Haven, southern Middlesex, and southern New London counties.

Now there is a Winter Weather Advisory in effect for those areas listed above for a potential of 2 to 5 inches of snow, which begins after midnight, and ends early Thursday afternoon.

For the rest of the state, nothing, no advisories or Hazardous Weather Outlooks. That doesn’t mean you won’t see any snow, but it’s nothing that precipitated an advisory.

The rest of Connecticut including northern Fairfield, northern New Haven, northern Middlesex, northern New London, Hartford, and Tolland counties could all receive 1 to 3 inches of snow.

Overall, nothing impressive, especially after the winter we’ve had, and let’s hope this is the last storm of the winter!

Manchester’s hour-by-hour forecast as of 4:53 p.m. from the National Weather Service:

• Wednesday night: Rain, snow, and sleet likely, becoming all snow after 2am. Cloudy, with a low around 23. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total nighttime snow and sleet accumulation of less than one inch possible.
• Thursday: A chance of snow, mainly before 3pm. Cloudy, with a high near 26. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
• Thursday night: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 6. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
• Friday: Sunny, with a high near 25. Wind chill values as low as -2. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.

Photo by jfl1066, via flickr creative commons