*** 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 ...

Friday, May 11, 2012

Dogwood Festival Shines on Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend is here, and Mother Nature will deliver a gift to us with a fairly nice Sunday under a mix of sun and late-day clouds with high temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s. However, there is a slight chance of a sprinkle or shower late in the day and into the evening. The weekend will get off to a great start, however, with sparkling weather tomorrow. In fact, Saturday will be the first day this month with mostly sunny skies. Daytime high temperatures will climb into the lower 70s by tomorrow afternoon.

Our weekend weather is batting just about .500 this year. Ten of the 19 weekends (53%) have been completely dry, while nine weekends (47%) have seen measured rain. January, February, and March were evenly balanced as far as wet and dry weekends, while April featured three weekends with measured rain. Two of the last four weekends have seen rainy weather in southwestern Connecticut. Here's a look at our weekend weather this year
  • January: 2 wet weekends, 3 dry weekends; total weekend rain 0.48"
  • February: 2 wet weekends, 2 dry weekends; total weekend rain 0.05"
  • March: 2 wet weekends, 2 dry weekends; total weekend rain 0.38"
  • April: 3 wet weekends, 2 dry weekends; total weekend rain 2.21"
  • May: 0 wet weekends, 1 dry weekend; total weekend rain 0.00"
  • Yearly total: 9 wet weekends, 10 dry weekends; total weekend rain 3.12"

The Mother's Day weekend gets off to an early start today as the 77th annual Dogwood Festival begins high atop Greenfield Hill in Fairfield. The event, which is traditionally held on Mother's Day weekend, draws people from all over the Northeast. From its humble beginnings on a card table that displayed handmade aprons and similar items three-quarters of a century ago, the Festival has grown into an event which attracts thousands each year.


Every year, the festival offers an opportunity for all to share the beauty of the historic hill. I've been at Greenfield Hill to provide LIVE weather reports a number of times to promote the Dogwood Festival, and it seems that rain has always been in the forecast just about every year. This year, Mother Nature is promising a fairly nice weekend for Mom. Enjoy it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Paul