*** 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 ...

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

First Snow of Season Coats Lawns

A strong cold front brought a burst of snow to the region early this morning, which caused wet roads and a whitening of the lawns. Officially, one-tenth of an inch of snow fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, but two inches of snow were unofficially reported in Redding. This view along Route 107 in Redding was taken by our camera during the mid-morning snow.


This wasn't the earliest snow in recent memory. That happened two years ago when a Nor'easter delivered up to a foot of snow in parts of Northern Fairfield County October 29, 2011. More than eight inches of snow fell at Sikorsky Airport last November 7 and 8. Here is a look at the dates of the first snowfall from each of the last seven years, courtesy of local climatologist Ralph Fato:
  • November 12, 2013
  • November 7, 2012
  • October 29, 2011
  • November 8, 2010
  • December 5, 2009
  • November 30, 2008
  • December 13, 2007
The temperature was in the lower 50s at midnight, but once the cold front cleared the region, the mercury dropped like a rock. In fact, the temperature quickly fell into the low-to-mid 30s by mid-morning. Light drizzle was reported in Norwalk between 3 and 6:45 a.m. before transitioning to a mix of rain and wet snow from 6:45 to 7 o'clock. A half-inch of snow was measured in Norwalk between 7 and 9 o'clock before it tapered off.


Here are three more photos taken by Ralph. The first shows a Wintry scene along the Merritt Parkway in Stamford. The second was taken in Greenwich at 9 o'clock. The last photo was taken at the country club in New Canaan at 11 o'clock.




Paul