Well below average temperatures will lead to the season's first flakes for many Thursday morning.

High temperatures on Tuesday and will be in the uppers 40s to near 50 degrees with a good amount of sunshine.

A hard freeze is expected tonight, and it will end the growing season along the shoreline.

Wednesday will be mostly sunny, and temperatures will rise into the upper 40s in the afternoon.

Thursday brings the forecast challenge of precipitation.

Early Thursday morning, temperatures will be below freezing across much of Connecticut. The hill towns may dip as low as the middle 20s.

High pressure will be in a good position to keep the cold in place initially at the surface, and as a result, snow is possible across inland Connecticut late Thursday morning.

The snow and rain will likely begin between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday.

Temperatures will eventually rise above freezing, leading to a mostly rain event for the whole state by afternoon.

While snow accumulation is unlikely and most will just experience wet roads, the northwest hill towns could see a slushy accumulation.

Shoreline areas will just experience rain on Thursday. It will be cold, with highs only near 40 inland but up near 50 at the shoreline.

Behind the storm on Friday, an abundance of clouds will stick around.

Follow meteorologist Tyler Jankoski on social media.

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A sexual assault was reported at a party held at a home in Bloomfield near the University of Hartford’s main campus over the weekend, according to a crime alert from the university.

No additional information was immediately available.

The alert says the Department of Public Safety wants to remind students about information designed to help keep the school community safe, including about rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking and intimate partner violence, as well as how to report crimes, services available and tips on how to try to prevent these crimes.

A drunken dad abandoned his toddler in a stroller in a New London street on Monday night, according to police.

Someone who was passing by found the 2- or 3-year-old girl abandoned in a stroller near 268 Bank St. in New London just before 7 p.m. on Monday and brought her across the street to the New London Fire Department, police said.

Firefighters who were returning from a previous call brought the little girl to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital to make sure she was not hurt and police began investigating.

Officers were able to identify the child’s father as 25-year-old Matthew Simpson, of Norwich, and witnesses said he’d been drinking in New London for most of the day.

The last place witnesses reported seeing him before the Good Samaritan found his child on Bank Street was in the area of 33 Tilley St. and he had the stroller, police said.

When police found Simpson in the bathroom of Union Station in New London at 7:35 p.m., he was highly intoxicated, police said.

Officers took him into custody and charged him with risk of injury to a minor.

Simpson was held in lieu of $25,000 bond and is due in court today to be arraigned.

When police found the child's mother, who lives with Simpson, she said the child had been in Simpson’s care since 12:30 p.m. and he was supposed to be babysitting for the day.

The state Department of Children and Families was notified and has opened an investigation, according to police.

It's not clear if he has an attorney. 

A federal judge has granted final approval to Volkswagen’s 14.7 billion dollar settlement, ensuing its 450,000 affected TDI customers to receive a five to 10 thousand dollar cash settlement, with buybacks beginning mid-November.

This comes 13 months after the German automaker admitted it secretly and intentionally installed software designed to cheat on emissions tests on some of its 2.0-liter clean diesel cars. In reality, some cars emitted nitrogen oxide at 40 times the legal limit.

Affected owners and lessees have two options beyond the cash settlement. They can either wait for Volkswagen to issue a fix, which could take up to 18 months, or they can opt for the buyback. Those who choose the buyback will receive their vehicle’s appraised value from September 2015—when the scandal first broke.

Hartford resident Randalle Reid owns a 2009 Jetta Sport Wagon TDI and feels torn. For him, Volkswagen is a family tradition.

"(My) father, sisters, my relatives (all had one), my wife had one when I met her," said Reid. "We’ve had lots of them."

And Reid’s car is in good condition, with 108,000 miles.

"We wouldn’t sell it for another five years just because (my wife) likes it," said Reid. "And now we have to get a new car."

He said he will likely opt for the buyback, like many other TDI owners. But as Connecticut’s Department of Revenue Commissioner Kevin Sullivan points out, impacted owners should do their homework.

"We wanted to make sure that consumers were aware that there are different tax implications with how they treat whatever they do with the car they’re entitled to do with," said Sullivan.

Unlike a normal trade-in, those who take the buyback will have to pay Connecticut sales tax on the full price of their new vehicle. He said some owners might not want to cash in on the settlement and instead trade their car in. In that case, buyers would only have to pay tax on the difference between the two cars.

"Do some intelligent comparison and know which is the best option for you," said Sullivan.

The state has declares a 30-day public water supply emergency for the city of Danbury.

Officials said Danbury’s City Water Bureau asked for help from the state Department of Public Health because of the impact the drought is having on the city’s public water system and Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino has signed an order.

The City’s Water Bureau provides water to residents and businesses in parts of Danbury, Ridgefield and Bethel and Danbury officials informed the state that its water supply reservoirs are approaching critically low levels.

The newly issued order will allow Danbury to use Lake Kenosia for the water supply. 

Danbury is also required to institute mandatory water conservation measures.

“The current drought conditions are taxing many of the state’s reservoirs and forcing public water systems to ask for an emergency declaration to protect their supplies. DPH will continue to be vigilant in our enforcement of our drinking water standards while working with systems to make sure they continue to provide adequate supplies of water to their customers,” Pino said in a statement. 

This is the third public water system in the past two months to request an emergency declaration.

The first, Aquarion Water Company, was granted an emergency order on Sept. 29 to divert water from other areas of its system to Greenwich, Stamford, Darien and New Canaan.

On Oct. 20, an order was issued to the City of Waterbury allow it to reduce the amount of water it is required to discharge to the Shepaug River from six million gallons per day to 1.5 million gallons per day.

The order issued for Danbury will remain in effect for 30 days, but Danbury can apply for additional 30 day extensions, up to a maximum of 150 days.

If Vice President Biden was serious about taking Trump "behind the gym," it sounds like Donald Trump is in.

Rounding out a full day of rallies in Florida Tuesday night, the Republican presidential nominee went off on a tangent against Biden, calling him "Mr. Tough Guy" for comments the VP made last week that if it were high school he'd take Trump "behind the gym."

Trump remembered the comments slightly differently — he said, "did you see Biden wants to take me to the back of the barn?" — but wasn't deterred by the sentiment behind them.

"I'd love that," he said of the idea of the two men tussling, NBC News reported.

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp is urging voters to register before the Connecticut deadline next Tuesday Nov. 1 because she does not want a repeat of Election Night 2014 at City Hall.

The state allows same day registration at designated locations, not necessarily a voter’s normal polling place.

“But if you are in line here and haven’t registered yet and its 8 o clock, you’ve got to go home,” Mayor Harp said at a Tuesday press conference.

Two years ago, City Hall election officials had to turn away about a hundred would-be-voters who tried to register at the last minute. Many of them were college students.

“New Haven has literally thousands of new residents this fall at local colleges and citywide and we want to be sure everyone has a chance to participate,” Harp said.

Yale University sophomore Lucas Kirby is participating in his first election. He is from Los Angeles, but on Nov. 8 he said he’ll be voting in New Haven.

“I think most of my classmates have already registered,” Kirby said, “I think that I have a lot of suite mates that are doing absentee ballots so maybe I’m in the minority of those who are from other states but are registered in Connecticut.”

Yale freshmen Ananya Parthasarthy and Rebecca Chong said they are opting to vote absentee in their home states. Chong is from swing-state Virginia.

“I had registered through my high school a while ago and figured it would be easier to do an absentee ballot,” Chong said.

Both students say they have seen social media posts encouraging young voters to make sure their voices are heard in this election.

“There’s a lot of talk about this upcoming election and I really think that’s encouraging more people to vote that maybe wouldn’t have voted in a different election,” Parthasarthy said.

Voters have until next Tuesday to register in person at a DMV or town registrar’s office.

Or you still can register online.

A call about a burglary in Old Saybrook led police to a pursuit before arresting five people for narcotics, police said 

Police responded to Sherman Street when a neighbor reported a possible burglary in progress. 

The suspects fled in a car and led police on a pursuit while traveling on College Street, Saybrook Point, over the Causeway, Fenwood, Knollwood, Maple Avenue and North Cove Landing, according to police.

The pursuit ended when the suspects drove into the backyard swamp area of two condominiums on North Cove Landing, police said. 

Nathaniel Gonzalez, 18, Yanquee Rodriguez, 20, and two unnamed 17-year-olds were arrested. 

An invesitigation found that the suspects were not attempting to rob a home, but in fact, were trying to sell drugs, police said. Bundles of heroin were found in the car. 

Police arrested Michael Jervis, 33, who was living at the home on Sherman Street and trying to buy heroin. 

Gonzalez, Rodriguez and the teens were all charged with various narcotic charges, including possession and intent to sell. Jervis was charged with conspiracy to possess and criminal attempt to purchase narcotics. 

No injuries were reported.

Some homeowners in Wallingford are concerned about Eversource cutting down hundreds of trees to keep the lights on when the weather is at its worst, leaving many residents feeling powerless against the power company.

Brenda Tyler said the trees along her Mulligan Drive property are part of the reason she bought her home 13 years ago and she is now worried that the trees could be cut down.

“I didn’t buy my house so that it would be devalued," Tyler said. "I bought my house so that we would add value to it.”

Many Wallingford residents are concerned about Eversource's rplan to remove hundreds of trees that could someday fall onto transmission lines.

An Eversource spokesperson said that the transmission lines carry power to thousands and thousands of customers in the region. Trees falling onto these transmission lines can be disastrous, as was seen with prolonged power outages after a damaging October 2011 storm. The company said the work needs to be done very soon.

“We will balance our need for reliable power with their need for aesthetics on their property," said Frank Poirot, an Eversource spokesman. “Anybody with an electric meter, whether they’re a customer of Eversource or someone else, will benefit or otherwise be impacted by what we do for maintenance of these lines.”

On Tuesday night, a meeting was held to continue the conversation between Eversource, the town council and the people of Wallingford.

Among those at the meeting was John Nasznic, a Wallingford resident, who expects to lose a lot of vegetation outside of his Twin Oak Farm Road home. “About 90 percent of the trees behind my property is going to be removed," said Nasznic. “I would hope there’s a little consideration for nature and for everybody’s property values," he said.

The basic Eversource mission is to clear all trees that are within one hundred feet from each of the transmission lines outermost conductors. Existing rules give the power company the legal right to do just that; and it appears the tree chopping could start soon despite any opposition.

“They’re going to come in and clear cut and they’re just appeasing everybody by doing this meeting," Nasznic said as he left town hall on Monday night.

Eversource said it was attempting to meet with each homeowner who would be impacted. But the plan to cut the trees down is moving forward, with work in Wallingford potentially starting in late November.

Connor Garcia Whitehill made a bold prediction last spring, before the baseball season even started. He didn’t just put it in writing – he put it on YouTube.

The 14-year-old from Oakland, California, said the Chicago Cubs would make it to the World Series, and win for the first time in 108 years, against the Cleveland Indians.

Why was he so confident in his prediction? Statistics.

"The fun thing about statistics is that they help you to understand the world around you, be it baseball, politics or just numbers in general,” he said.

Fun? Many people would say statistics are useful, but most wouldn’t say fun.

But math is one of Connor’s favorite things. So he decided to combine it with two other passions – video and baseball – when he tackled his eighth grade project.

With the help of a couple of dedicated math teachers at Berkeley’s Black Pine Circle School, he created a spreadsheet with formulas that analyzed MLB statistics and gave each team a number to predict its final ranking in each division.

Of course, the Cubs came into the season strong. It doesn’t take a crystal ball or statistics to say they would have a good season.

But Connor called the winners of four out of six divisions.

"The more surprising thing to me was the Cleveland Indians, and that actually made me doubt my metric a little bit," he said.

His analysis failed him in the West divisions. Maybe his love for the Giants led him astray.

“I think they were unlucky. They should’ve won,” he said ruefully.

His dad, Bob Whitehill, helped him edit the video and suggested he read “Moneyball,” the Michael Lewis book that documented how the 2002 Oakland Athletics rethought baseball’s conventions to field a winning team on a budget.

His mom, Ingrid Aguirre Happoldt, forwarded the video Connor made to friends and family across the country.

Then, when Connor’s predicted teams won the pennants, they started calling and texting.

“They’re saying, ‘Didn't Connor predict the Cubs and the Indians? Did it really work out that way?' So it's been fun to see that the predictions he made have come to pass,” she said.

She’s grateful that her son has the opportunity to plan and execute a long-term project over the course of several months.

“He was eager to be done with the video editing part by the end of it,” she said. “He’s getting a big confidence boost from this.”

Her son is now taking geometry at Bishop O’Dowd High School.

He calls his metric, “The Connor Curve.” There are only a few more games until his statistical analysis is tested by real life.

Donald Trump's campaign is pushing back against a new report that says Trump has all but stopped raising money for the joint fundraising effort with the Republican National Committee, insisting that the campaign is continuing to support the Republican Party, NBC News reported.

Trump finance chairman Steven Mnuchin told NBC News that the report by The Washington Post was "completely misleading" and that "we continue to do fundraising for Trump Victory."

The Post reported Tuesday evening that the Trump campaign has "wound down" its joint fundraising effort, holding its last major fundraiser Oct. 19 in Las Vegas, and that it would still raise money online. The Post has since changed its headline but kept the contents of the story.

The report caused a stir because most of the money raised through Trump Victory goes to help the Republican Party implement an effective ground game and a get-out-the-vote effort and to help candidates down the ballot.

In 1973, New York City school teacher Annette Gandy Fortt was looking for a decent place to live. A listing for an apartment in a building owned by Donald Trump's father, Fred, caught her eye — but she says the super told her there were no units available.

"I was black," Fortt said recently. "I was not wanted."

As NBC News reports, after Fortt was turned away from the Queens apartment building twice, the New York City Human Rights Commission sent a white person to the property to apply for an apartment — and the tester was offered the apartment, according to court papers.

The commission took on Fortt's case, and she says a young Donald Trump appeared with a lawyer at a hearing on behalf of the family real estate company, Trump Management.

Her case also became part of a federal racial discrimination lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against Donald and Fred Trump that was resolved with a consent decree two years later in which they agreed to terms aimed at preventing discrimination.

That lawsuit is the basis of a new video from Hillary Clinton's campaign, released Tuesday.

Google's parent company is halting operations and laying off staff in a number of cities where it once hoped to bring high-speed internet access by installing new fiber-optic networks.

The Mountain View-based company also announced that Craig Barratt, a veteran tech executive who led the ambitious - and expensive - Google Fiber program, is stepping down as CEO of Access, the division of Google corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., that operates the 5-year-old program.

In a statement, Barratt said Google Fiber will continue to provide service in a handful of cities where it's already operating, including Atlanta; Austin, Texas; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

But it will put further plans on hold in at least eight more metropolitan areas where it's been holding exploratory talks with local officials. Those include Dallas; Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida; Los Angeles; Oklahoma City; Phoenix; Portland, Oregon; and San Jose. San Diego was also once considered a candidate for Google Fiber.

Barratt didn't say how many jobs will be cut. His statement described the Access business as "solid," but said it would make "changes to focus our business and product strategy" and incorporate new technology.

A recent report by tech news site The Information said the business was under pressure by Alphabet CEO Larry Page to cut costs after failing to meet financial goals, including a target of signing up 5 million subscribers.

Barratt said he'll continue to serve as an adviser to Page.

With rain in short supply, three public water systems approaching critically low levels received an emergency declaration from the state in the last two months.

The first to receive the declaration of a public water supply emergency was Aquarion Water Company's southwestern region, followed by Waterbury. Danbury received its declaration on Tuesday, and officials warn it may not be the last.

"The 1980-81 drought was quite severe for the State of CT, and I think we might, if it doesn't rain, we might be headed for something similar," said Lori Mathieu, Public Health Water Section Chief for the Department of Public Health.

While Tuesday's public meeting in Norwich was not in response to current conditions, the drought makes the Water Planning Council's goal all the more urgent.

Made up of representatives from DEEP, DPH, OPM, and PURA, the agencies are working together to come up with a comprehensive plan that balances the needs of water when it comes to personal usage, economic development, recreation, and ecological health.

"Water is really taken for granted, and what we're here tonight to do is to make sure we have plenty of it moving forward," said John Betkoski, III, Vice Chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and Chairman of the Water Planning Council.

The council and its consultant, CDM Smith, took questions and input from the public Tuesday night. Those with the water industry raised concerns about data gaps, implementation, and wanted to make sure that any plan doesn't increase costs. Those with private wells voiced concerns about how it could impact them as well.

Officials say they're not looking to create mandates but to create a framework, to recommend policies, and to identify opportunities to improve water management.

One example they gave is exploring the idea of using Class B water for irrigation instead of using potable water.

"That's one of the items that will be looked at here very carefully is water conservation, the wise use of high-quality water that is used for human consumption but is also used for many other uses," said Mathieu.

Currently the water plan is in Phase I, which officials say deals with assessing current conditions and practices, evaluating future conditions, and prioritizing issues.

Officials say Phase II deals with developing consensus-based policy recommendations, developing pathways towards a resolution for unresolved issues, formulating a decision framework for ongoing and future water issues, and defining opportunities for regional collaboration.

There are two more public outreach meetings for Phase I, a repeat of the meeting in Norwich for those who were unable to attend that one.

Phase I Public Outreach Meetings:

Wednesday, October 26 1pm-3pm, Hearing Room 1 at PURA, 10 Franklin Square, New Britain

Thursday, October 27 6pm-8pm, Room 205 of the Southbury Town Hall, 501 Main Street South, Southbury

Phase II includes 5 stakeholder workshops and 3 public outreach meetings. The public outreach meetings will take place in January, February, and April.

Phase II Stakeholder Workshops (location to be determined):

November 17, 2016

January 12, 2017

February 2, 2017

February 16, 2017

April 20, 2017

For more information on the Water Plan, you can head to the website.

Part of Route 139 in Branford was closed after of a crash that wedged a car under a truck, but the road has reopened.

Police said the driver suffered minor injuries. 

The truck, which was carrying prestress, was turning onto Route 139 and a car heading south went under the trailer.

Route 139, or North Branford Road, was closed between School Ground Road and Route 1. 

Russia has released the first image of its newest thermonuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, NBC News reported.

The RS-28 Sarmat, also known as “Satan 2,” has the capability to wipe out a landmass “the size of Texas or France,” according to the Kremlin-aligned Sputnik news agency. It will replace the RS-36M, also known as “Satan,” which entered service in the 1970s.

Former nuclear weapons expert at the U.S. Department of Energy, Robert Kelley, said the upgrade was likely the electronic aspect of the weapon. The range and explosive power are likely the same as previous missiles, but the reliability, flexibility and confidence are new, he said.

It is expected to enter service late next year.

A 24-year-old Windsor man was killed when his motorcycle and a car collided on Route 20 in East Granby on Tuesday evening.

State police identified the motorcyclist as Joseph Peter Sandamena and said he was on a Yamaha, going east on Route 20, or Rainbow Road, and the other driver had just left a gas station and was heading west when the crash happened around 4:30 p.m.

Sandamena was thrown from his motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to state police.

The other driver, 61-year-old Robert Earl Mcarthur, of Harwinton, was taken to Saint Francis Hospital to be treated for minor injuries, state police said.

Police are investigating the crash and ask anyone with information to call 860-534-1000.

An offensive against ISIS in Syria to retake Raqqa is set to begin within weeks, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told NBC News in an exclusive interview in Paris where he has been meeting with his counterparts from other Western countries.

Raqqa is the terrorist organization's de facto capital and Carter said the plan is part of a larger offensive. He added, "It's been long a part of our plan that the Mosul operation would kick off when it did. This was a plan that goes back many months now and that Raqqa would follow soon behind."

When asked whether U.S. special forces or other troops would be sent inside Mosul or Raqqa to gather intelligence or hunt "high-value combatants," Carter replied: "They are not near [Mosul] at this time ... Our forces do accompany .... the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga. So they will get nearer to the city as those forces get nearer to the city ... We are not going to be part of the occupation or hold forces."

It's unclear what military force would lead the attack on Raqqa nor what role, if any, US forces would play in the planned attack.  

The inbound upper level of the George Washington Bridge was closed by an immigrant rights protest on Wednesday morning, snarling traffic on one of the region's most important crossings at the height of rush hour.

Delays at the bridge for traffic heading into New York from New Jersey were up to nearly 90 minutes; traffic cameras showed bumper-to-bumper traffic barely inching along. 

The protesters apparently chained themselves across the roadway to block traffic, unfurling large banners in an attempt to spread their message. One banner appeared to read "Resist, Organized, Act Up!"

Drivers were clashing with the protesters in an effort to get the bridge open, according to witnesses. Police quickly detained the small group and traffic began moving again about 15 minutes.

The Port Authority said 10 people who were blocking the eastbound lanes were arrested. No injuries were reported. The agency said it is investigating. 

The protest organization, Laundry Workers Center — which was using the hashtags #WeAreVisible and #SomosVisible on social media — was already planning a rally in Union Square Park Wednesday night. 

"We are a Grassroots Autonomous Movement campaigning for the right of every member of our communities to be visible, to be able to take part in the decision making process that affect our communities in our 'democratic' system, and for the ability to determine our destinies," the New York-based nonprofit said on its Facebook page. 

Also according to its Facebook page, the group works to improve the living and working conditions of workers in the laundry and food service industries. 

"Our work aims to combat abuses such as landlord negligence, wage theft, and hazardous and exploitative working conditions, all of which are endemic in low-income communities in New York City and New Jersey," the page says.