By John Schwing

WESTPORT — As dawn broke Tuesday over a snow-covered landscape, a bit of daylight is emerging between the most dire predictions of the storm’s wrath and the on-the-ground reality.

The 24-hour “Winter Storm Warning” issued for southwestern Connecticut by the National Weather Service on Monday, has been cut by eight hours and will be lifted as of 10 a.m. Tuesday instead of 6 p.m.

With the reduced window for the storm’s intensity, snow accumulations also will be lower than the worst-case scenario of up to 8 inches, the NWS said early Tuesday.

Light snow is expected to keep falling on Westport and the region through late morning, according to the forecast, with accumulations totaling about 4 to 5 inches.

By midday, snow is expected to mix with rain, then change to all rain Tuesday afternoon, as temperatures rise to a high of about 40 degrees, the NWS says.

Precipitation is expected to end Tuesday night, and much of the snow should evaporate under sunny skies Wednesday and daytime high temperatures in the mid-40s.

However, there is an increasing chance of rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning, according to the NWS. The high temperature Thursday is forecast to rise above 50 degrees.

By Friday, however, a rain/snow mix is likely in the afternoon as temperatures won’t match the balmy levels a day earlier, hitting about 40 degrees.

The wintry mix will likely continue Saturday morning, according to the NWS, with a daytime high of about 40 degrees.

Sunday, however, is expected to be partly sunny, with temperatures in the mid-40s.

Here’s an updated list of local storm-related closures and postponements:

• Westport public schools and offices, closed Tuesday.

• Westport Center for Senior Activities, closed Tuesday.

• Westport-Weston Family YMCA, delayed opening Tuesday at 8 a.m.

• Westport Library, delayed opening at noon Tuesday.

• Westport Library’s Malloy Lecture in the Arts, featuring musician/artist Richard Butler, postponed from Tuesday to April 1.

As of 6 a.m. Tuesday, no Westport power outages were reported by Eversource.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.