*** 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 ...

Saturday, October 19, 2013

This October is the Warmest on Record

Mother Nature has provided us with splendid Autumn weather across southwestern Connecticut. The last couple of weeks have been dry and mild. In fact, this is the warmest October on record through yesterday. The average daily temperature at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford is 62.4 degrees. Local climatologist Ralph Fato created this graphic which illustrates the Top 10 Warmest Octobers on record at Bradley and Sikorsky airports, respectively.


Through the first 18 days this month, the average daily temperature has been at or above normal every day. Four days featured an average daily temperature at least 10 degrees above normal, and the average daily temperatures for October 4th and 17th were 13 degrees above normal for both days. There were two days on which the daily average was exactly normal for the date (October 9th and October 14th). The monthly average temperature is running 5.4 degrees above normal.

The other story has been the lack of rain. Just four of the last 29 days have featured any measured rain across southwestern Connecticut. Three of those days had three-hundredths of an inch or less. The only day with appreciable rainfall was October 7 when nearly a quarter-inch (0.21") was recorded. The last eight days of September were dry, and  there was a nine-day stretch from October 8th through October 16th without any measured rain.

Our weather pattern is about to change, though. A cold front and associated area of low pressure will bring much cooler air and some rain to the region by Wednesday. Daytime high temperatures will fall into the low-to-mid 50s as a storm system moves just offshore. The highs Thursday and Friday will struggle to reach the mid 50s, but it will be blustery under a mix of sunshine and clouds. It will remain in the 50s through the upcoming weekend. I'm sure that will have a big effect on lowering October's average daily temperature.

Paul