*** Paul Piorek is editor and publisher of Paul's Local Weather Journal for southwestern Connecticut ... Paul is the on-air meteorologist at WICC 600 AM and 107.3 FM ... Paul is a New York Emmy award winner (2007), five-time Emmy nominee, and four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcasters' Association award for Best TV Weathercast (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012) ... Paul was voted Best Local Television Personality by the readers of Fairfield County Weekly Magazine (2012) ... Paul was inducted into the Housatonic Community College Hall of Fame and received the Distinguished Alumni Award (2012) ... The local weather journal is a two-time winner of the Communicator Award of Distinction (2012 & 2013) ... Paul is currently a full-time teacher of Earth Science and Mathematics in Fairfield ... Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulPiorekWICC ...

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Historic Autumn Storm Highlighted October Weather

The effects of this past weekend's historic October Nor'easter are still being felt by thousands of people without electricity today. Record snowfall caused heavy branches and small trees to come crashing down. More than a foot of snow fell in parts of Northern Fairfield County, while Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford received four inches of snow, a record for October 29 and the entire month. Here's a picture of Southport Harbor last Saturday.


Last month was warmer than normal. The average daily temperature was 57.1 degrees, which is exactly two degrees warmer than normal. The mercury climbed to an unseasonably warm 85 degrees on October 10 and fell below freezing only once all month. The average daily temperature was at or above normal for 19 consecutive days from October 8 through October 26. The average temperature was 13 degrees above normal October 10 and 11 degrees above normal October 11, 14, and 20.

October was also wetter than normal, continuing the theme for the year. Nearly four inches (3.96") of liquid precipitation fell last month, which is about a third of an inch (0.32") above normal. There were 10 days which featured measured precipitation, including each of the first three days of the month. Well over an inch (1.25") of precipitation fell during the Nor'easter, which was the wettest day of the month.

The record snowfall punctuated the month. Consider the normal average snowfall for October is just a trace, and it was quite surprising to see four inches of snow along the immediate shoreline before Halloween. The only other day with measured snow on record in southwestern Connecticut happened Sunday, October 4, 1987, when just a half-inch fell. Even more surprising was the heavy snow in Northern Fairfield County. It was historic, to say the least.

November is off to a much quieter start, thankfully. Other than an Air Quality Alert this afternoon due to the burning wood and running generators, our weather looks fairly quiet through the middle of next week. A cold front will march through the region tonight, producing mostly cloudy skies, but clouds lift for sunshine later tomorrow morning. Friday will become sunny and windy with a high in the mid 50s. The weekend looks sunny and cool.

Paul