*** 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, April 26, 2013

Unusually Dry April One for the Record Books

We need some rain. This month has been quite dry. In fact, it will be the third driest April on record across southwestern Connecticut. Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford has received just over one inch (1.08") of  rain through yesterday, which is well below the 3.62" normal through the date. April is normally the third wettest month of the year with 3.99" of precipitation, just behind March (4.15") and May (4.03").

In fact, this will be the second driest month since January of 2010. Local climatologist Ralph Fato of Norwalk took a look at the precipitation totals for each of the last 40 months, and the only drier month than this month was last March when just 1.04" of rain fell. There have been just six days with measured rain this month, with the highest single-day total of 0.51" on April 12. Two days (April 10 & April 20) had a half-inch of rain.


Magnifying the dry weather was a drier-than-normal March. Just over two-and-a-half inches (2.51") of precipitation fell last month, which was more than an inch-and-a-half below normal. There were just seven out of 31 days (22%) with measured precipitation in March. Two days (March 8 & 12) had well over a half-inch of precipitation, while four of the days had less than a quarter of an inch.

The latest Drought Monitor as of April 23 classifies our region as being "abnormally dry," although not officially in a drought. However, no major storms are expected over the next week, which will not help. There may be a brief sprinkle or shower Monday, but that's about it. Much of the Plains is either in exceptional drought or extreme drought.



Since March 1, we've received less than 50% normal precipitation. The 3.62" over the last two months is well below the 7.53" normal. We've had more than 10 inches of precipitation (10.64") this year, which is still well below the 13.42" normal through the period. I suspect if the trend continues for the next week or longer, the region will be in a "moderate drought" classification.

Despite the dearth of rain, you should get outside this weekend. It will be one of the nicest weekends this year. We can expect mostly sunny skies and daytime high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60s tomorrow and Sunday. Nighttime lows will drop into the 30s tomorrow morning and mid 40s by Sunday. Monday will become mostly cloudy with a sprinkle or two possible, but not nearly enough to offset the extremely dry weather over the last two months.

Paul