By Thursday night the National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Watch for all of Connecticut beginning Saturday evening and continuing into Sunday afternoon. A Winter Storm Watch means there is a potential for six or more inches of snow accumulation.

For the immediate Connecticut coast, the NWS predicts, "Heavy mixed precipitation possible. Total snow and sleet accumulations of 3 to 6 inches and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch possible." For inland sections of Southern Connecticut, the NWS is forecasting, "Heavy mixed precipitation possible. Total snow and sleet accumulations of 4 to 8 inches and ice accumulations of around one tenth to a quarter of an inch."

For Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties, the NWS is predicting "Heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Total snow accumulations of 6 inches or more possible with the highest risk north of the Massachusetts turnpike. Highest potential for over a foot of snow is north of route 2 in Massachusetts. In addition, ice accretion of one tenth to three tenths of an inch are possible mainly to the south of the Massachusetts turnpike with localized amounts up to one half inch possible." And in Litchfield County, the NWS is predicting, "Heavy mixed precipitation possible. Total snow and sleet accumulations in excess of 7 inches in 12 hours and ice accumulations of up to two tenths of an inch possible. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph."

On the surface the predicted snow accumulation totals reflect a moderate snowstorm at best, but what makes this powerful storm such a major concern is the significant amount of icing that is predicted to fall on top of the snow Sunday morning. The ice may be so heavy in areas that power outages are possible and travel may be treacherous. Temps will be falling from around the freezing mark Sunday morning down into the single digits through the day.

And as for Friday morning's nuisance snow, we're still on track for a coating up to two inches of accumulation.