Public safety officials are urging people to avoid driving on Monday as an ice storm brings potentially dangerous conditions to Vermont.
Vermont State Police added extra patrols to bolster coverage during the storm’s peak, the agency said in a press release Sunday night.
The National Weather Service is predicting 0.6 inches of ice to accumulate across parts of Vermont, with the highest totals ranging from the Northeast Kingdom to Springfield, in central Vermont, and along the spine of the Green Mountains.
State offices were closed on Monday due to the icy conditions and non-essential workers were told to work remotely.
As of 11 a.m. on Monday, there were nearly 5,800 outages reported in the state, primarily in central Vermont.
Conditions aren’t expected to improve until Monday after noon, state police said. Public safety officials are advising people to stay home unless travel is necessary. If people do go out, police are telling people to take extra time while driving, slow down, give other drivers more distance, and pack an emergency kit in case you become stranded.
