Recalling Tropical Storm Hanna 18 Years Ago Today

Today marks 18 years since the arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna. The storm came and went fairly quickly Saturday, September 6, 2008, delivering more than three inches of rain at Sikorsky Memorial Airport, scattered power outages, and gusty winds. It could have been a lot worse, but the storm raced through the region, arriving late Saturday afternoon and exiting during the early morning hours Sunday, September 7.

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 more than a half-foot of rain. Remember, the average normal rainfall for September is 3.58 inches. The bands of heavy rain made traveling difficult at times, and some roadways were flooded. 

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"

The storm followed the forecast track for the most part, with the eye of the storm passing just to our East late Saturday evening and moving well to our North and East by the end of the weekend. The skies cleared quickly the following day. 

Paul

Tenth Wettest August on Record at Bridgeport Climate Station

The Bridgeport climate station recorded 6.39" of precipitation last month (161% of normal), making it the tenth wettest August on record.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) September 3, 2026 at 4:31 PM

The Bridgeport climate station recorded 6.39" of precipiation in August, which is well above (+2.41") the 3.98" climatological average for the month.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) September 1, 2026 at 3:09 PM

Paul

Marking the 15-Year Anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene

Tropical Storm Irene hit the region 15 years ago today, and it will long be remembered by residents of southwestern Connecticut for the number of lives it affected. 

According to Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Connecticut Light and Power, more than 700,000 customers were without power Sunday, August 28, 2011, easily breaking the previous record of 480,000 following Hurricane Gloria in September of 1985. In fact, 98% of Redding and 89% of Weston households were without power on Monday, August 29, 2011.

The shoreline was hit the hardest, especially during the storm surge at the time of high tide late Sunday morning, August 28. Several homes collapsed along the beach in Fairfield, and many residents had to be evacuated due to the flooding. There were 35 streets which were under mandatory evacuation. 

The center of the storm passed through southwestern Connecticut late Sunday morning, August 28, just about the time of high tide, which was 11:10 a.m. in Bridgeport. To make matters worse, tides were astronomically high due to the new Moon. 

Although the storm's effects would be felt for quite some time, it could have been much worse. The highest wind gust reported in the region was 63 miles an hour at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford just before daybreak. 

The highest wind speed was 46 miles an hour, and the average wind speed was 24.9 miles an hour. Fortunately, winds never reached hurricane force, but that certainly was little consequence to the thousands of people who were without power or who suffered damage from Irene.

Rainfall totals ranged from just over three inches to more than a half-foot in Northern Fairfield County. Officially, the Sikorsky Airport set a record of 2.50 inches, bringing the two-day storm total to 3.35 inches. That's not far from the monthly average of 3.75 inches. 

Thus far this year, the Atlantic tropical season has been fairly quiet. However, that was not the case 15 years ago today.

Paul

Wettest Meteorological Summer on Record at Bridgeport

This is the wettest meteorological Summer on record at the Bridgeport climate station. The 21.21" of precipitation since June 1 broke the previous record of 20.23" (1972) for June, July, and August.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) August 24, 2026 at 8:59 PM

The Bridgeport climate station has recorded 21.21" of precipitation since June 1 --- the start of meteorological Summer --- which is more than double the 10.25" normal through August 24. Last year's total was 3.85" through the same period.

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) August 24, 2026 at 4:54 PM

Paul

Flood Watch in Effect for Fairfield County Through Early Friday Morning

A Flood Watch is in effect for Fairfield County until Friday at 2 a.m. EDT: forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.ph...

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— Paul Piorek WICC (@paulpiorekwicc.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 2:04 PM

Paul

Marking the 71st Anniversary of Hurricane Connie's Arrival to Southwestern Connecticut

Long-time area residents will never forget August of 1955 when two of the most memorable hurricanes --- Connie and Diane --- battered the Northeast. Hurricane Connie soaked New England with torrential rains on August 13, 1955. Then, just five days later, Tropical Storm Diane followed suit creating massive flooding not seen since the 1930s. 

The combination of Connie and Diane yielded rainfall totals close to 25 inches in some areas, resulting in unprecedented flooding. Nearly all of the major rivers in the lower Connecticut Valley exceeded flood stage. Some rivers rose more than 20 feet over their banks. Read the Valley News archive of daily weather events from August of 1955 to gain a better understanding of the power of those two August hurricanes.

While the two hurricanes affected the entire Atlantic coast, Connecticut suffered the most damage. For example, of the 180 lives that were lost, 77 were in Connecticut. Of the 680 million dollars in property damage, over 350 million dollars occurred in Connecticut. Over 200 dams in New England suffered partial to total failure. Many of these were in the area immediately south of Worcester, in the Thames and Blackstone headwaters. 

If August was not bad enough, two months later, a four day storm dumped an additional 12-14 inches of rain in southwestern New England. This event was not as widespread as the August storms, but record flood levels were achieved in some locations of the Housatonic and Hudson River basins.

Paul