Mixed Bag, Mixed Results

As advertised, the latest winter storm is dropping a little bit of everything on north central Connecticut.

What started as snow overnight and into the early morning daylight hours turned to a frozen granular precipitation throughout the morning commute and into the lunchtime period. The National Weather Service is calling for the mixed bag to continue throughout the day with temperatures hovering around the freezing mark or slightly higher.

Schools were closed in the area - including , , , , , Manchester, Mansfield, the University of Connecticut, and Eastern Connecticut State University - and several courthouses were posting delays. Many churches were  canceling evening activities. Outgoing flights at Bradley International Airport were delayed from five to 10 minutes because of the de-icing process.

The opened at noon.

Late this morning, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ordered a partial activation of the state's emergency operations center to monitor the storm and road conditions.

“I am urging everyone to take it slow on the roads, and if you don’t have to go out, please consider staying home until the plows have a chance to get through our roads,” Malloy said. “We are closely monitoring the situation and will make any necessary decisions in terms of staggered release or other actions later this morning. But in the meantime, please be safe and mindful of the elements at hand.”

State Department of Transportation spokesman Judd Everhart said that DOT crews were on state roadways treating the surfaces last night and early this morning and planned to remain on the roads throughout the day. He said for the most part, roads were in "OK shape,'' but urged drivers who could not stay home to drive slowly.

''The roads could be slippery and in some spots even treacherous," Everhart said. "Driving could be tricky."

DOT traffic cameras indicated a wintry mix on both Interstate-84 and I-91 this morning. Some cameras, like the one onI-84 in Tolland at the Cider Mill Road overpass, were covered with ice.

Road conditions were affecting some businesses. Tire Town in Vernon, a busy auto repair shop, found it difficult to take on any new jobs this morning because parts were not being delivered from the major distributors in Hartford.

The governor also urged state residents to alert authorities to any drooping power lines and be mindful of snow piled up on flat surfaces, which will continue to get heavier as rain and ice are added on top.

At 11 a.m., Connecticut Light & Power was reporting no outages in the area. Crews are on stand-by all day just in case, said utility spokesman Mitch Gross.

"If there is an outage, we ask customers to call it in right away," Gross said. "It's our job to get to an outage and repair it and we are ready to go. We hope nothing happens, but it something happens, we will be there."