Tropical Storm Irene hit the region one year ago this weekend, and it will long be remembered by residents of southwestern Connecticut for the number of lives it affected. According to Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Connecticut Light and Power, more than 700,000 customers were without power Sunday, August 28, 2011, easily breaking the previous record of 480,000 following Hurricane Gloria in September of 1985. In fact, 98% of Redding and 89% of Weston households were without power on Monday, August 29, 2011.
The shoreline was hit the hardest, especially during the storm surge during the time of high tide late Sunday morning. Several homes collapsed along the beach in Fairfield, and many residents had to be evacuated due to the flooding. There were 35 streets which were under mandatory evacuation. This is an outstanding time lapse taken during Tropical Storm Irene. Ralph Fato installed a camera by the water in New Rochelle, NY. The camera was 15 feet higher than the bottom of the pond. You will be amazed at this video.
Ralph sent the following photos of Cove Island Park in Stamford, where the water level was 15 feet above normal. The beach is actually a quarter-mile away. The center of the storm passed through southwestern Connecticut late Sunday morning, August 28, just about the time of high tide, which was 11:10 a.m. in Bridgeport. To make matters worse, tides were astronomically high due to the new Moon. The beach is actually a quarter-mile away.
Although the storm's effects would be felt for quite some time, it could have been much worse. The highest wind gust reported in the region was 63 miles an hour at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford just before daybreak. The highest wind speed was 46 miles an hour, and the average wind speed was 24.9 miles an hour. Fortunately, winds never reached hurricane force, but that certainly was little consequence to the thousands of people who were without power or who suffered damage from Irene.
Rainfall totals ranged from just over three inches to more than a half-foot in Northern Fairfield County. Officially, the airport set a record of 2.50 inches, bringing the two-day storm total to 3.35 inches. That's not far from the monthly average of 3.75 inches. Here are four more photos from Ralph taken at Cove Island Park.
Now, all eyes are focused on Isaac, which may affect us with tropical moisture by the end of next week. The weather this week has been just about perfect for anybody on vacation. Let's hope we don't have to deal with anything like Irene again. Have a good weekend.
Paul
The shoreline was hit the hardest, especially during the storm surge during the time of high tide late Sunday morning. Several homes collapsed along the beach in Fairfield, and many residents had to be evacuated due to the flooding. There were 35 streets which were under mandatory evacuation. This is an outstanding time lapse taken during Tropical Storm Irene. Ralph Fato installed a camera by the water in New Rochelle, NY. The camera was 15 feet higher than the bottom of the pond. You will be amazed at this video.
Ralph sent the following photos of Cove Island Park in Stamford, where the water level was 15 feet above normal. The beach is actually a quarter-mile away. The center of the storm passed through southwestern Connecticut late Sunday morning, August 28, just about the time of high tide, which was 11:10 a.m. in Bridgeport. To make matters worse, tides were astronomically high due to the new Moon. The beach is actually a quarter-mile away.
Although the storm's effects would be felt for quite some time, it could have been much worse. The highest wind gust reported in the region was 63 miles an hour at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford just before daybreak. The highest wind speed was 46 miles an hour, and the average wind speed was 24.9 miles an hour. Fortunately, winds never reached hurricane force, but that certainly was little consequence to the thousands of people who were without power or who suffered damage from Irene.
Rainfall totals ranged from just over three inches to more than a half-foot in Northern Fairfield County. Officially, the airport set a record of 2.50 inches, bringing the two-day storm total to 3.35 inches. That's not far from the monthly average of 3.75 inches. Here are four more photos from Ralph taken at Cove Island Park.
Now, all eyes are focused on Isaac, which may affect us with tropical moisture by the end of next week. The weather this week has been just about perfect for anybody on vacation. Let's hope we don't have to deal with anything like Irene again. Have a good weekend.
Paul
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