Friday, October 4, 2024
Season's Earliest Snowfall Happened 37 Years Ago Today
The coastal storm of October 4, 1987, broke records by dumping up to 20" of heavy wet snow in upstate New York, 18" in Western Massachusetts, 12" in Vermont, and nine inches in Northern Connecticut. Consider the normal high and low temperatures for this date in southwestern Connecticut are 68 and 51 degrees, respectively. The storm delivered 1.25" of liquid precipitation to Sikorsky Airport which still remains a record for this date.
Here is the story as it appeared in the New York Times the following day:
The storm, which was caused by a collision of cold and wet air masses, also brought down an untold number of trees and tree limbs which were still full of leaves. Many vehicles were damaged by the falling trees and limbs, and there were many weather-related traffic accidents which resulted in injuries or deaths.
I worked the early-morning shift at the Western Connecticut State University weathercenter in Danbury at the time, and I remember being shocked by the snow and cold. It was hard to believe that it was still Summer just two weeks earlier. Twenty-four years later a powerful Nor'easter brought heavy snow to the Northeast two days before Halloween. Let's hope this October is much quieter weatherwise.
Paul
Friday, September 27, 2024
Today Marks 39th Anniversary of Hurricane Gloria's Arrival to Southwestern Connecticut
I was a rookie educator at the time, having just secured my first position as a seventh grade teacher in a self-contained classroom at a private school in New Haven. Weather was my passion, naturally, and I was able to share my excitement at the upcoming storm. Just three weeks into the profession, I received a week's vacation unexpectedly.
I was also a weekend newscaster and disc jockey at WMMM radio in Westport. I received a phone call from program director Gary Zenobia just after I returned home from school on Thursday afternoon requesting that I host an overnight newscast to inform our listeners about the impending storm and emergency measures which may have to be taken. WMMM was a daytime-only station, meaning it was on the air during daylight hours and signed off at sunset, but this time it was granted an exception by the Federal Communications Commission.
As my family was applying duct tape to picture windows, securing lawn furniture, stocking up on non-perishable food, and checking batteries for flashlights and portable radios, I was packing a bag for my overnight stay at the radio station. We had a few reporters "on location" at various shelters throughout town, and then-First Selectman William Seiden joined me on the air most of the night to reassure listeners that their safety was our primary concern.
The overnight hours were anxious moments for all of us as we awaited the arrival of the storm. Local shelters began to fill up quickly, and I remember answering the telephone every couple of minutes from town residents who were sharing their concerns and fears. Gloria struck quickly and furiously. The hurricane hit New York and Connecticut as a moderate hurricane early the next day. At the time of landfall on Long Island, Gloria had sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, while rapidly moving forward at 35 miles per hour.
This combination of sustained winds and rapid forward motion produced major hurricane conditions and gusts to 115 mph across a narrow area of Eastern Long Island, New York. Although Gloria was not a major hurricane when it struck Connecticut, it was still the most damaging hurricane to strike the state since Carol in 1954. The rain began overnight, and before long the winds became a serious matter.
As the morning wore on, Gloria continued to accelerate northward off the Eastern seaboard, brushing the coastlines of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey with hurricane-force gusts. Later that morning, Gloria finally crossed the coast of the United States mainland near western Long Island about 10-miles East of Kennedy International Airport. Passing over central Long Island, Gloria crossed the Connecticut coast near Bridgeport about 40 minutes later with sustained winds of 80 mph. By that time, I was already home, but there was no way I was going to go to sleep.
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Today Marks 86th Anniversary of Great New England Hurricane of 1938
The Eastern part of Connecticut was the hardest hit, since it bore the brunt of the eastern, or stronger, side of the hurricane. Small shoreline towns to the east of New Haven had nearly complete destruction from the water and winds. Believe it or not, to this day, the 1938 hurricane remains the worst natural disaster in Connecticut's history. In the beach towns of Clinton, Westbrook, and Old Saybrook, buildings were found as wreckage across coastal roads.
According to reports, stately homes along Ocean Beach in New London were leveled by the storm surge. The permanently anchored 240-ton lightship at the head of New London Harbor was found on a sand bar two miles away. Inland sections of Connecticut experienced widespread flooding as torrential rains fell on soil already saturated from previous storms. The Connecticut River was forced out of its banks, flooding cities and towns from Hartford to Middletown.
As for the storm's history, it was centered several hundred miles to the southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during the early morning hours of September 21. By mid-morning, the hurricane was centered approximately 100 miles due east of Cape Hatteras, and its forward speed had increased to well over 50 m.p.h. This rapid movement did not give the hurricane a sufficient amount of time to weaken over the cooler waters before it reached Long Island.
The hurricane sped through the Virginia tidewater by late-morning, and by early afternoon the New Jersey coastline and New York City caught the western edge of the hurricane. Weather conditions suddenly began to deteriorate along the southern New England coast as well as on Long Island. The full force of the hurricane started to reach Long Island after 2 o'clock, and the eye made landfall at Bayport in Suffolk County shortly after 3 o'clock.
An hour later, the eye had crossed the Long Island Sound and was making a second landfall just east of New Haven. According to modern analysis, the hurricane attained Category 3 intensity at both landfalls. The maximum sustained winds were between 120 and 125 miles an hour. After crossing LongIsland Sound, the hurricane sped inland.
The eye moved into western Massachusetts by 5 o'clock and, one hour later, the hurricane reached Vermont. Both Westfield, Massachusetts, and Dorset, Vermont, reported calm conditions and partial clearing during the passage of the eye. When the hurricane continued into northern Vermont, it began to lose its tropical characteristics.
Twenty-eight years later, another slow-moving storm brought gale-force winds and three inches of rain to southwestern Connecticut on Wednesday, September 21, 1966. Fall officially arrives Sunday, September 22, at 8:53 a.m. EDT with the Autumnal Equinox.
Paul
Friday, September 20, 2024
Autumn Officially Arrives in the Northern Hemisphere This Weekend
However, here in the Northern Hemisphere, the amount of daylight continues to dwindle, and the Sun now sets before 7 o'clock in the evening. Recall that in late June, during the time of the Summer Solstice, the Sun set at 8:30. We've lost more than an hour-and-a-half of daylight just in the evening alone over the last three months.
So why does the Equinox happen? The seasons of the year are caused by the 23.5ยบ tilt of the Earth's axis. Because the Earth is rotating like a top, it points in a fixed direction continuously toward a point in space near the North Star. That's why the North Star appears to be the only star which doesn't move in our night sky. However, the Earth is also revolving around the Sun. During half of the year, the Southern Hemisphere is more exposed to the Sun than the Northern Hemisphere. During the rest of the year, the reverse is true.
At noontime in the Northern Hemisphere the Sun appears high in the sky during the Summer and low in the sky during Winter. It is highest at the Summer Solstice in late June and lowest at the Winter Solstice by the end of December. The half-way points in the year are called the Equinoxes. It is the time of the year when the Sun rises exactly in the East, travels through the sky for 12 hours, and sets exactly in the West. The photo below shows visitors at Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in England.
However, on the Autumnal Equinox in southwestern Connecticut, the Sun rises at 6:40 a.m. and sets at 6:50 p.m., giving us 12 hours and ten minutes of daylight. That has to do with the angle at which the Sun rises and sets. Actually, "equal day and equal night" occurs for us on September 25th and 26th when we receive just about 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.
Happy Autumn!
Paul
Sunday, September 15, 2024
September's Full Harvest Moon Happens This Tuesday, September 17, at 10:34 p.m. EDT
Full Moon names reflect the time of year they happen. And, true enough, the Harvest Moon graces the skies in the harvest season in the Northern Hemisphere.
There is also an astronomical reason why the Full Moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox is called the Harvest Moon.
The Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, on average. At Full Moon, it rises as the Sun sets. In the Northern Hemisphere around the Harvest Moon, however, the difference in the time of moonrise from one day to the next is less than 50 minutes. At the latitude of New York City, the difference is around 25 minutes per day.
With successive moonrises coming around the same time of day, it may feel like there are several Full Moons in a row. Historically, the extra moonlight meant that farmers could work and harvest their crops for a longer time in the evenings. Hence, the Harvest Moon.
The Full Harvest Moon happens this Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 10:34 p.m. EDT.
Paul
Friday, September 6, 2024
Recalling Tropical Storm Hanna 16 Years Ago
The storm brought a peak wind gust of 39 miles-an-hour and a peak wind speed of 30 miles-an-hour, sparing southwestern Connecticut any damaging or destructive winds. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the storm was the brutal tropical humidity throughout the day, ultimately leading to the heavy downpours by late-afternoon through the evening hours.
The heaviest rain fell to our North, with parts of Northern Fairfield County receiving over a half-foot of rain. Remember, the average normal rainfall for September is 3.58 inches.
Christine from Greenwich wrote, "Here are pictures from Todd's Point and Binney Park. Sorry if they're not great photos, but it was the best I could do without getting my camera wet."
Local residents sent the following photo of flooding on Shippan Avenue at the West Beach soccer fields under construction in Stamford. This picture was taken at 7:30 Saturday evening.
Here are some of the unofficial rainfall totals from across southwestern Connecticut from Hanna's visit:
- Woodbridge: 5.04"
- Norwalk: 4.37"
- Fairfield: 4.13"
- Greenwich: 3.93"
- Stamford: 3.62"
- Stratford: 3.55"
- Milford: 3.42"
- Bridgeport: 3.30"
Paul