(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that due to a weather forecast indicating that Connecticut will experience a blast of arctic temperatures and breezy winds over the next several days, he is directing the state’s severe cold weather protocol to go into effect beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 16, 2025, and remaining in effect through noon on Saturday, February 22, 2025.
During this period, overnight temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits. Coupled with steady winds, it will feel like it is below zero during the overnights for much of next week. Anyone in need of shelter or a warming center is urged to call 2-1-1 or visit 211ct.org to find available locations. Transportation can be provided if necessary.
"Connecticut law prohibits tethering dogs outside during extreme weather and that they have adequate shelter. Dogs of all breeds are susceptible to frostbite, especially on the nose and footpads. If you see a dog being tethered outside, please have your local ACO or police take immediate action: tell them that according to Connecticut General Statutes 22-350a, dogs cannot be tethered outside during extreme weather for a duration longer than 15 minutes.
Adequate Shelter means a structure that the shelter provides natural or artificial light during daylight hours; offers space adequate for a dog to sit, lie down and turn; is soundly constructed, maintained in good repair and free from accumulated animal waste, debris and moisture, including, but not limited to, standing water and mud, inside and in the immediate vicinity of such shelter; permits a dog access to potable water at least twice in each twenty-four-hour period; during cold outdoor environmental conditions is enclosed and insulated to an extent sufficient to permit a dog to maintain normal body temperature, features a solid roof, solid walls and wind-protected opening for entry and exit, is raised two or more inches off the ground, and contains dry bedding; during extreme heat outdoor weather environmental conditions provides shade and ventilation sufficient to permit a dog to maintain normal body temperature; does not contain a space heater or wood or fuel burning equipment utilized for space heating; is not located under exterior stairs or underneath or inside a motor vehicle; and if the floor of such structure is constructed using wire or metal chain links, such links are appropriately sized so that a dog's paws will not become caught in such links.
It's also too cold for cats and for rabbits in outdoor hutches. (In nature, rabbits are prolific burrowers–they burrow beneath the frost line to avoid extreme temperatures. In hutches, they have no such protection and can die from extreme weather.) So, bring them in, too! Connecticut law, CGS 53-247(a), requires that people provide their animals with "protection from the weather."
“Following the snow and freezing rain that is expected to move into the state beginning Saturday afternoon and continuing into Sunday morning, it’s looking like abnormally cold air will settle into the region, causing it to feel brutally cold for much of the week,” Governor Lamont said. “With the kind of arctic air that is headed our way, frostbite can develop on exposed skin in under 30 minutes. Spending long periods of time outdoors in these conditions is not only harmful, but it can also be fatal.
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