Tandem trucks banned from highways

CONNECTICUT, Hartford, (AP):

Tandem tractor-trailer trucks were banned from Connecticut highways yesterday and most schools were closed as plow trucks struggled to keep roads clear in a heavy winter storm that was expected to dump up to 20 inches of snow and some ice in parts of the state.

The Metro-North Railroad reduced service to much of its regular train runs, while dozens of flights were cancelled at Bradley International Airport north of Hartford.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy ordered the truck ban beginning at 4 a.m. Later in the morning, he told all nonessential, first- and second-shift state employees not to report to work.

"I don't want to put anyone in harm's way," Malloy said in a statement. "With heavy snow falling across the state and forecast to continue throughout the day, I am asking residents to avoid unnecessary travel."

The National Weather Service said 10 to 20 inches of snow and up to one-tenth of an inch of ice could fall in northwestern Connecticut, with the larger amounts accumulating in higher elevations in the northern Litchfield County hills.

The agency forecast 8 to 12 inches of snow and some ice in northern Connecticut and the southwestern part of the state, and 6 to 10 inches of snow and some ice in southeastern Connecticut.