Update October 16, 8:11 p.m. EDT: The severe-thunderstorm warning for Tolland and northwestern Windham counties ended at 7:30 p.m. A fresh check of the National Weather Service active Connecticut alert feed, whose snapshot was updated at 8:07 p.m., showed no active severe-thunderstorm warning. That resolves the incomplete replacement-warning check noted earlier. This snapshot does not establish an all-clear, verify local road conditions or rule out later alerts.
The earlier warning chronology follows. Times and shelter instructions below describe those dated bulletins, not a renewed warning. A separate freeze watch remains in the active Connecticut feed for northern New London County and other listed areas, covering late Saturday night into Sunday morning; it is not a continuation of Friday's severe-storm warning.
The National Weather Service issued a severe-thunderstorm warning at 6:41 p.m. Friday, October 16, covering Tolland County and northwestern Windham County until 7:30 p.m. EDT. The warning also includes Hartford County and specified parts of Massachusetts.
In its 7:04 p.m. continuation, NWS placed the severe line from Somers through near Vernon to East Hartford, moving east at 75 mph. Radar-indicated gusts of 60 mph remained the hazard, with possible damage to trees and power lines. The storm's movement speed is not a measured wind gust or an exact arrival time for an individual town.
For protection, NWS instructs people in the warned area to move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Vernon and Mansfield are among the locations named in the bulletin. The warning’s geographic polygon controls coverage; the northwestern Windham wording does not cover every part of that county.
Separately, a 6:26 p.m. NWS New York special weather statement includes southwestern New London County through 7:30 p.m., with radar-indicated gusts up to 40 mph. It names Colchester among affected locations and says gusts could knock down limbs or move unsecured objects. That statement is distinct from the 60 mph severe-thunderstorm warning farther north.
These are official radar-based warnings and forecasts. Eastern CT News has not verified storm damage, injuries, outages or road closures from these storms. Keep following new NWS statements because warning areas and expiration times can change.
The warning is a material change from the earlier evening forecast. The separate western Connecticut severe-thunderstorm watch issued at 3:50 p.m. listed Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties until 10 p.m.; exclusion from that earlier watch did not prevent a subsequent warning in Eastern Connecticut.
Earlier Friday forecasts identified an evening storm window and a lower severe risk in eastern areas than farther west. That earlier probabilistic outlook must not be substituted for the current warning. The weekend freeze watch and marine advisories remain separate notices.
Update October 16, approximately7PM EDT: Added the official6:41PMsevere-thunderstorm warning and6:26PMspecialweatherstatement; retained the original articleID,publicationdate,photograph and prior distribution selections.
Update October 16, 7:04 p.m. NWS bulletin: The severe warning remains in effect until 7:30 p.m. for Tolland, northwestern Windham and central Hartford counties, with parts of Massachusetts. The warning area was updated; use the latest exact NWS map. No verified damage total or later warning expiration is established here.
The separate6:26PM southwesternNewLondon specialweatherstatement also carried a7:30PM end time. Its earlier guidance is retained here as history; no extension is inferred. Check current NWS alerts and avoid downed lines or flooded roads.