West Hartford Issues Warnings About Arctic Cold

WEST HARTFORD, CT — With the town and state about to get slammed with a short, but brutal, bout of arctic cold, the West Hartford Department of Emergency Management has issued several tips to deal with it.

The department sent out an alert Thursday afternoon, just before temperatures later in the week are expected to plunge to the single digits, with double digit below zero wind chills expected.

"As you may be aware, arctic air is expected to sweep across Connecticut Friday, bringing bitter cold and dangerous wind chills," wrote West Hartford officials via social media.

"The National Weather Service has issued wind chill warnings from late Thursday through Saturday afternoon."
As a result, town officils said folks should do the following:

• Wear a hat, preferably one that covers your ears.

• Dress in layers to help retain heat. You can remove layers as needed if you become too warm.

• Wear mittens, which officials said provides more warmth to hands than gloves.

• Wear waterproof, insulated boots to help avoid hypothermia or frostbite.

• Get out of wet clothes immediately and warm the core body temperature with a blanket or warm fluids like hot cider or soup.

The department also posted a series of phone numbers and other tips that can be followed via social media.