Today Marks Earliest Sunset of the Calendar Year

This evening's sunset in Fairfield was at 4:24 p.m. EST, marking the earliest sunset of the year. Why does the earliest sunset happen two weeks before the Winter Solstice? It’s because the Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical shape instead of a circle.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) December 7, 2024 at 8:29 PM

Paul

December's Full Cold Moon Happens This Thursday

The Full Cold Moon happens this Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 6:14 p.m. EST. It's also known as the Long Night Moon because it rises during one of the longest nights of the year.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) December 2, 2025 at 6:06 PM

Paul

Annual Precipitation More Than One Foot Below Normal at Bridgeport Climate Station

The Bridgeport climate station has recorded 27.19" of precipitation this year, which is more than one foot below normal (39.62") and well below last year's total (41.86") through Wednesday.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) November 27, 2025 at 10:37 AM

Paul

Recalling the Thanksgiving Day Snowstorm 36 Years Ago

Thirty-six years later, the Thanksgiving Day snowstorm of November 23, 1989, still remains the snowiest November day on record in southwestern Connecticut. The storm, which began Wednesday evening, November 22, delivered more than a half-foot of snow in less than 24 hours, while creating havoc on area roadways and major airports in the Northeast. Officially, 6.6 inches of snow fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford.

The first Thanksgiving Day snowstorm in 51 years postponed traditional high school football rivalry games and even prevented Snoopy and Bugs Bunny from making it to the big parade in Manhattan. Snow fell from Virginia to New England, breaking records in Boston, New Jersey, and New York City. By the time it dwindled to a flurry late Thursday, November 23, the storm delivered 4.7 inches of snow to Central Park.

The unforgettable storm was the seventh measurable Thanksgiving Day snow recorded in New York City since the National Weather Service started keeping records more than 120 years earlier. The last white Thanksgiving in the city was in 1938, when 3.9 inches of snow fell. In Newark, nearly six inches of snow fell in less than 24 hours, breaking the Thanksgiving record of four inches set in 1938.

The New York City police department said there were about 1.8 million spectators and marchers at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They described it as a light to medium turnout. Strong gusts in the early morning tore at the seams and patches of the giant Snoopy and Bugs Bunny helium balloons, puncturing Snoopy's nose and tearing a hole in his comrade's side, a Macy's parade official, said.

Boston experienced the heaviest Thanksgiving Day snow in 65 years, and in southern New England, three to eight inches were recorded. Long Island was the hardest hit, in particular Northport and Centerport, where five to seven inches fell. In Brooklyn and New Jersey, up to five inches were reported. There were no record lows in temperature, however.

What do I most remember about the snowstorm? I just began working as the evening weather anchor at News 12 Connecticut two months earlier, and the snow caught just about everybody by surprise. Although there was some snow in the forecast, I distinctly remember telling the viewers that it shouldn't amount to much, and travel shouldn't be adversely affected. Boy, was I ever wrong!

Paul

A Fateful Decision That May Have Saved JFK's Life

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The following is a CBS article on how the weather may have played a role on that fateful day.

(CBS News) President John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas sixty-two years ago today. Among the young reporters on the scene that day were Peter Jennings of Canadian TV and later ABC; Dan Rather of CBS; Jim Lehrer of the Dallas Times Herald and later PBS; and a cub reporter from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram -- our very own Bob Schieffer.

Those who covered the assassination and who are still around all these years later have had a long time to think about what might have been. It was a misty morning as the president spoke in Fort Worth. But by the time he got to Dallas, the sun had come out. 

Jim Lehrer was at Love Field assigned to cover the president's arrival for the Dallas Times Herald. He remembers seeing the bubble top on the presidential limousine.

"I asked the agent, a man I knew, who was the agent in charge of the Dallas office of the Secret Service," he said, "'You gonna leave the bubble top up?' I'll never forget it, Bob, he looked up at the sky and [said], 'It's clear.' So then he turns to the other agents who were all there by the car ... and he said, 'Lose the bubble top.'"

Lehrer believes it was a fateful decision. "I think Lee Harvey Oswald probably would not have taken the shots," he said had the bubble top been on the limousine.

The bubble top was not bullet proof, but it could have made the president a difficult target or it could have deflected the bullet.

Jim Lehrer ran into that same Secret Service agent later that evening at the Dallas police station. He recalls that the agent came up to him and said, "Jim, if I just hadn't taken off the bubble top."

Showers Expected Late This Evening and Tonight Across Southwestern Connecticut

Less than one-third of an inch of precipitation is expected across southwestern Connecticut through Sunday at 1 p.m. EST.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) November 14, 2025 at 1:01 PM

Paul