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Connecticut’s December windstorm: trees down, roads choked, and a grid that still breaks first

Connecticut’s December windstorm: trees down, roads choked, and a grid that still breaks first

Built World
By Newzino Staff | |

A fast-moving Northeast wind-and-rain system knocked out power, blocked key routes, and exposed familiar weak points.

December 21st, 2025: Restoration nears completion: 166 outages remain statewide by Sunday evening

Overview

Connecticut's December windstorm played out the familiar script: a fast-moving system brought damaging gusts and rain on December 19, toppling trees onto distribution lines and knocking out power to more than 50,000 customers. By Sunday evening, crews had restored service to all but 166 customers, clearing more than 190 blocked roads in the process—a textbook three-day restoration cycle.

The story matters less for what happened than for what it confirms: in Southern New England, overhead distribution plus saturated ground plus roadside trees still equals broken lines and slow repairs. The pattern persists because the vulnerability is structural, not operational—and until that changes, the next windstorm will follow the same arc.

Key Indicators

>50,000
Peak Connecticut power interruptions
Outages surged Friday as winds intensified and trees hit distribution lines.
166
Final outage count by Sunday evening
Restoration reached completion within 72 hours, following standard utility triage sequence.
85,000+
Total customers restored during event
Measure of crew productivity across scattered damage sites statewide.
70 mph
Top reported Connecticut gust (Norwalk)
A gust in this range is enough to drop limbs onto energized lines.
0.82 in
Bridgeport daily rainfall record
A new record edged out a 1948 mark, adding stress to saturated soils and trees.
190+
Roads cleared during restoration
A measure of how much of the crisis is logistics, not just electricity.
0
United Illuminating outages by Sunday evening
Smaller utility completed restoration faster, with outages dropping from 6,000+ at peak.

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People Involved

Steve Sullivan
Steve Sullivan
President, Connecticut Electric Operations, Eversource (Led three-day restoration effort; event concluded without major complications or public criticism)

Organizations Involved

Eversource
Eversource
Investor-owned electric and gas utility
Status: Completed restoration of 85,000+ customers within three days; no major operational failures reported

Connecticut’s largest electric utility, repeatedly tested by wind-driven tree damage to distribution lines.

United Illuminating (UI)
United Illuminating (UI)
Investor-owned electric utility
Status: Completed restoration faster than Eversource, reporting zero outages by Sunday evening

The electric utility serving parts of southern Connecticut, including Bridgeport-area communities.

National Weather Service
National Weather Service
Federal Agency
Status: Issued wind advisories and post-storm hazard messaging, including icing risk

The forecasting authority that set expectations for damaging wind and timing across Connecticut.

Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT)
Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT)
State agency
Status: Managed detours and closures as downed trees and wires blocked routes statewide

The agency trying to keep roads passable while storm debris and wires made them unsafe.

Timeline

  1. Restoration nears completion: 166 outages remain statewide by Sunday evening

    Response

    Eversource reported only 166 customers still without power, down from 50,000+ peak, marking effective end of restoration.

  2. United Illuminating completes restoration: zero outages reported

    Response

    UI territory showed zero outages by Sunday evening, completing faster restoration than Eversource.

  3. Final restoration tally: 85,000+ customers restored, 190+ roads cleared

    Response

    Eversource reported total restoration effort metrics as crews completed scattered repairs.

  4. Wind Advisory window ends overnight, but damage and risk linger

    Warning

    Advisory timing ended, yet cleanup continued with gusty conditions and hazards.

  5. Saturday restoration grind: thousands still out, scattered fixes dominate

    Response

    Eversource reported nearly 15,000 customers still without power Saturday afternoon.

  6. Record rain marker: Bridgeport sets a daily rainfall record during the storm

    Impact

    Bridgeport logged 0.82 inches, topping a record that stood since 1948.

  7. Bigger Northeast footprint comes into focus as extreme gusts hit New York high country

    Context

    A connected windstorm produced hurricane-force gusts at Whiteface Mountain in New York.

  8. Saturday evening: 4,200 Eversource outages remain concentrated in eastern towns

    Response

    Highest remaining outage counts in East Haddam, Killingly, Guilford, and Brooklyn as crews worked scattered repairs.

  9. Wind Advisory begins as the system pushes into Southern New England

    Warning

    NWS posted advisory timing for damaging gust potential across the Hartford area.

  10. Outages surge past 50,000 as trees hit lines and equipment

    Impact

    Eversource territory saw outages spike as winds intensified during the day.

  11. Road network starts to fail: multiple state routes shut by debris and wires

    Impact

    CTDOT-listed closures spread across towns as trees blocked roads and pulled lines down.

  12. Restoration turns dangerous as winds keep dropping trees; crews take hits

    Response

    Eversource said a tree fell on a line truck while crews worked through hazards.

  13. Local severity shows up in gusts: 70 mph reported in Norwalk

    Impact

    Reported gusts reached levels consistent with widespread limb failures and sporadic structural impacts.

  14. Forecasts sharpen: strong winds and heavy rain flagged for Friday

    Warning

    Local officials warned of damaging gusts and outage risk ahead of the storm.

Scenarios

1

Power Mostly Restored by Sunday Night, Then the Story Quietly Fades

Discussed by: Utility updates and local coverage from CTInsider, Hearst Connecticut Media, and NBC Connecticut

If winds ease and no new tree-falls cascade into fresh outages, crews can finish the “last miles” by working feeder-by-feeder and clearing remaining roadblocks. The public attention drops fast once most customers are back online, even though the most time-consuming repairs happen at the end.

2

A Second Wave: Lingering Gusts and Freezing Temps Trigger New Outages and Hazard Crashes

Discussed by: NWS hazard messaging and storm coverage emphasizing gust persistence and post-front temperature drops

This scenario turns on timing: if gusts keep flexing already-damaged limbs while temperatures drop, you get fresh line strikes plus black-ice crashes that block crew access. Restoration becomes stop-and-start—fixing new problems while trying to finish old ones—and the outage map stops shrinking cleanly.

3

After-Action Politics: Lawmakers and Regulators Reopen the Grid Hardening Fight

Discussed by: Regional commentary that routinely follows outage events, framed against past Connecticut restoration controversies

If the outage tail stretches—especially if critical services are disrupted—pressure rises for accelerated vegetation management, targeted undergrounding, and tougher performance expectations. The trigger isn’t just this storm’s peak; it’s the recurring pattern that keeps turning routine windstorms into multi-day infrastructure failures.

Historical Context

Tropical Storm Isaias (Connecticut restoration backlash)

2020-08-04 to 2020-08-11

What Happened

Isaias ripped through the Northeast as a strong tropical storm, producing massive tree damage and prolonged outages. Connecticut saw hundreds of thousands lose power, and restoration became a public test of utility preparedness and mutual-aid staffing.

Outcome

Short Term

Utilities restored the vast majority of customers over about a week, under intense scrutiny.

Long Term

Isaias became a reference point for expectations: faster estimates, better communication, more hardening.

Why It's Relevant Today

It explains why even smaller storms now trigger immediate questions about readiness and grid resilience.

The October 2011 “surprise” snowstorm (wet snow + trees + wires)

2011-10-29 to 2011-11-07

What Happened

Heavy, wet snow loaded trees still full of leaves, snapping branches into lines across the Northeast. Connecticut’s outages surged into the hundreds of thousands, and some customers remained dark deep into the following week.

Outcome

Short Term

Extended outages drove shelter openings and emergency operations across multiple states.

Long Term

It reinforced the core vulnerability: overhead distribution in a heavily treed landscape.

Why It's Relevant Today

Different precipitation, same failure mode—trees take the grid down and block the roads to fix it.

Hurricane Sandy (Connecticut grid stress and critical-infrastructure triage)

2012-10-29 to 2012-11-01

What Happened

Sandy’s wind and coastal impacts hammered the region, knocking out major transmission and distribution assets. Connecticut faced widespread outages plus downstream strain on sewage facilities and healthcare operations running on backup power.

Outcome

Short Term

State agencies and utilities triaged critical services while tackling large-scale line damage.

Long Term

Sandy helped normalize “resilience” planning as an infrastructure, not weather, problem.

Why It's Relevant Today

It clarifies what’s at stake when outages persist: cascading effects beyond lighting and HVAC.

13 Sources:
+7
CTInsider (Hearst Connecticut Media) Connecticut Post (Hearst Connecticut Media) NBC Connecticut WFSB National Weather Service Times Union Barnstable County (MA) Government The Washington Post CNBC CT Mirror Hartford Courant FOX61 CTInsider (Hearst Connecticut Media)