Tropical Storm Irene

This video was edited and recorded by viewer Ralph Fato of Norwalk. He finally had his electricity restored after three days.



Paul

Time Lapse of Tropical Storm Irene

This is an outstanding time lapse taken during Tropical Storm Irene. Ralph Fato installed a camera by the water in New Rochelle, NY. The camera was 15 feet higher than the bottom of the pond. You will be amazed at this video.



Paul

The Aftermath of Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene 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, easily breaking the previous record of 480,000 following Hurricane Gloria in September of 1985. In fact, early this morning, 98% of Redding and 89% of Weston households were without power.

The shoreline was hit the hardest, especially during the storm surge during the time of high tide late Sunday morning. 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. A shelter was established at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, and people are advised to bring extra clothes, medicines, and any paperwork they deem necessary to protect.

Ralph Fato of Norwalk sent the following photos of Cove Island Park in Stamford, where the water level was 15 feet above normal. The beach is actually a quarter-mile away. The center of the storm passed through southwestern Connecticut late Sunday morning, 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.The beach is actually a quarter-mile away.







Although the storm's effects will be felt for quite some time, it could have been much worse. The highest wind gusts 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 is little consequence to the thousands of people who are 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 airport set a record of 2.50 inches yesterday, bringing the two-day storm total to 3.35 inches. That's not far from the monthly average of 3.75 inches. However, August's total rainfall is now 9.57 inches, and the yearly rain (41.07") is more than a foot above the 28.59" normal. Here are four more photos from Ralph taken at Cove Island Park.









Now, the cleanup begins. At least the weather will cooperate. An area of high pressure will deliver mostly sunny skies and pleasant conditions for the next few days. In fact, the weather should be dry through the start of the Labor Day holiday weekend. Today will be mostly sunny and mild with a high in the mid-to-upper 70s. Tonight will be clear and comfortable with a low in the 50s. Tomorrow will be sunny and nice with a high near 80. Enjoy the rest of the week.

Paul

Irene's Wrath Along the Coast

Here's a look at Cove Island Park in Stamford during Tropical Storm Irene. The beach is about a quarter-mile away. The water is from Long Island Sound advancing onto land.



This video shows a beach bar and road flooded by Veteran's Park in Norwalk. The water level is about 15 feet higher than normal.



Paul

Connie & Diane Battered Connecticut 56 Years Ago

After a spectacular day yesterday, you'll be wise to grab the umbrella today. We can expect a shower or thunderstorm from this morning through this afternoon as more humid air advances toward southwestern Connecticut. Today's high temperature will reach the lower 80s, which is just about normal for this time of the year. However, our weather was anything but normal 56 years ago today. That's when the second of two powerful hurricanes hammered 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, on this very date, Tropical Storm Diane followed suit creating massive flooding not seen since the 1930s. Take a look at the front page of The Bridgeport Telegram from August 20, 1955.


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. Here is a photo of Winsted, Connecticut, virtually devastated following the flood.
 
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.

Our weather picture will remain unsettled into the start of the weekend with more widespread showers and thunderstorms expected Friday. Saturday will bring partly sunny skies with a chance of an isolated thunderstorm, and more of the same is likely Sunday. At least the weather won't be nearly as historic or as memorable as it was 56 years ago today.

Paul

Declination of the Sun Changes Dramatically During August

I'm sure you've noticed that the length of daylight is decreasing across southwestern Connecticut. The mornings are getting lighter later, while the evenings are getting darker earlier. That's to be expected this time of the year. However, have you noticed the subtle change in the length of the shadows? That's due to the lower angle of the Sun in the sky.

It has been eight weeks since the Summer Solstice, and the Autumnal Equinox is just five short weeks away. The Sun is not nearly as high in the sky today as it was on the first day of Summer. The Sun was 23.26 degrees North of the celestial equator on June 21, which is as high as it ever gets in southwestern Connecticut. The days were at their longest and the shadows were at their shortest.

Today, though, the Sun is just 13.37 degrees North of the celestial equator, meaning that it's nearly five degrees lower in the sky than it was August 1 (+18.10 degrees) and nearly 10 degrees lower than it was at the end of June. The Sun's lower angle in the sky continues to accelerate through the end of the month. By August 31, for example, it will be just 8.52 degrees North of the celestial equator.

The Sun's rays remain North of the celestial equator through September 23, when the Sun is just 0.10 degrees above it. From that point on, the Sun's rays continue to sink below the celestial equator until December 21, the first day of Winter, when they reach -23.26 degrees. That, understandably, is the shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight.

So, what does this all mean? In short, the Sun's angle is continuing to sink lower in the sky, the shadows outside are getting a little longer each day, and the length of daylight is decreasing each day. The midpoint of Summer was a little less than two weeks ago, and now Autumn is staring right at us. I'm not ready for Summer to leave just yet.

As for our weather, today will be the best day of the week under mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures with a high in the low-to-mid 80s. Tonight will be mostly clear and mild with a low in the low-to-mid 60s. Tomorrow will be partly sunny and more humid with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm and a high near 80. More showers and a possible thunderstorm are expected Friday.

Paul

Full Sturgeon Moon Happens This Weekend

It was brighter than normal when I left my home shortly before 3 o'clock this morning. That's because crystal clear skies helped illuminate a nearly-full Moon. Ralph Fato, a regular contributor to our Facebook weather page, sent this photo of the Moon. He wrote, "Anyone catch the moon tonight? (It was) nice and bright. Here's a picture I took of it at 10 p.m. facing Southeast. (The) camera didnt capture the bright white light it was giving off, but (it's) still pretty cool to see up close."

The Full Sturgeon Moon happens this Saturday, August 13, at 2:57 p.m. EDT. We should get another spectacular view of the nearly-full Moon later tonight under clear skies and dry air. Temperatures will fall into the 50s inland and lower 60s along the shoreline by daybreak. The Moon rises at 7:06 EDT this evening, and it sets tomorrow morning at 5:51.

So, how did the August full Moon get its name? The fishing tribes are given credit for naming it, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

Thunder and lightning are quite frequent with Summer storms in August. So, this month’s full Moon also goes by the name of the Lightning Moon for the Summer thunderstorms. Other names given to the Moon in August are the Red Moon and the Dog Moon.

Full Moon names date back to the days of the Native Americans, in what is now the Northern and Eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.

There are some changes to the weekend weather forecast. High pressure will hold through tomorrow, and a storm system which promises to bring moderate to possibly heavy rain won't arrive until late Sunday or Sunday night. The rain may be heavy through early Monday.

Have a good weekend.

Paul

The "Dog Days" of Summer Officially End Today

The oppressive heat and humidity we've experienced quite often this Summer will take a break over the next couple of days. We'll enjoy sunny skies, lower humidity, and seasonable temperatures through the start of this weekend as high pressure dominates our weather picture. And, today is a significant, albeit symbolic, date on the calendar if you're pining for more comfortable weather.

The Dog Days of Summer officially come to an end today. In case you’re wondering, the dog days last for 40 days, from July 3 to August 11. They are directly related to the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major, or the big dog. Sirius is known as the Dog Star, and we see it clearly illuminating the night sky from early Autumn through early Spring.

However, during this time of the year, Sirius rises and sets with the Sun. During late July, Sirius is in “conjunction” with the Sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the Sun, creating a stretch of very hot, humid, and sultry weather. Actually, the conjunction of Sirius with the Sun varies slightly with latitude, and a gradual drifting of the constellations over time means that they are not in exactly the same place in the sky as they were in ancient Rome.

Although this is typically the warmest time of the year in southwestern Connecticut, the added heat is not due to the added radiation of a far-away star, regardless of how bright it is. The heat of Summertime in the Northern Hemisphere is a direct result of the Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt on its axis. Today's normal high temperature is 82 degrees, just one degree shy of the normal for late July.

You'll certainly want to get outside today and enjoy the sunny skies and drier air. It will be mostly sunny, seasonable, and less humid with a high temperature in the lower 80s, typical for early-to-mid August. Tonight will be clear and comfortable with a low of 52 to 62 degrees. Tomorrow will be sunny and delightful with a high of 80. The "Dog Days" are going out in style!

Paul

Summer Heat Taking Its Toll on Athletes

Lets' face it, this has been one of the warmest Summers in quite some time. The average monthly temperature has been well above normal for each of the last four months, and August is off to a much warmer-than-normal start. In fact, the average temperature this month is 78.2 degrees, nearly four degrees above the 74.4-degree normal.

The temperature climbed to 103 degrees on July 22, which tied the all-time record high for southwestern Connecticut, and the mercury reached 96 degrees the following day. The highest temperature this month was 92 degrees on August 2. The brutal Summer temperatures and extreme humidity have affected just about everybody, especially athletes.

At least two high school football players and one coach have died in just the last week due to complications from the extreme heat. There has also been a report of an adult runner in Kansas City who died due to heat stroke over the weekend. Athletes of all kinds are suffering more than ever this Summer due to the relentless hot and humid weather.

Dr. Douglas Casa from the University of Connecticut said that this last week was "the worst week in the last 35 years in terms of athlete deaths." Locally, scholastic athletes will report for practice later this month, and doctors are warning student athletes to be careful when practicing in the Summer heat.

According to CNN.com, there are no nationwide specific rules written to protect high school athletes from complications due to the hot weather. However, many school districts do put out some sort of guidelines to deal with the extreme conditions. Climatologically, August is the second hottest month of the year.

Athletes are encouraged to weigh themselves before and after each practice session. If a player's weight drops by more than three percent, dehydration is setting in. If it should drop by more than five percent, heat-related illness has begun. If you do need to practice outside or participate in strenuous exercises, do so in the early morning hours or later in the evening.

Although no extreme heat is expected over the course of the next week, daytime high temperatures will continue to hover close to the 81-degree normal for this time of the year. Showers and scattered thunderstorms will develop this afternoon, and periods of rain are likely through midnight. Skies will gradually clear tomorrow, and great weather is expected Thursday and Friday.

Paul

View of Northern Lights Tonight is in Mother Nature's Hands

If Mother Nature cooperates, we could be in for a fantastic show of Northern Lights tonight. A major solar flare erupted at 11:57 p.m. EDT Wednesday night which propelled a cloud of subatomic particles directly toward the Earth. That's the word from good friend Joe Rao, News 12 Westchester meteorologist and astronomer.

Skies are expected to be partly cloudy this evening and mostly cloudy after midnight as the humidity level increases. Temperatures will hold in the mid-to-upper 60s by late tonight. I had lunch with Rao this past Wednesday while attending a media seminar at Cablevision's corporate headquarters in Bethpage, New York. I have always admired the passion he has for Science, particularly meteorology and astronomy.

Rao told me that analysts at the Space Weather Lab say the cloud of subatomic material should reach Earth sometime today. The impact on the Earth is likely to be major. The estimated maximum geomagnetic activity index level is high, and that means we might be treated to a nice display of the Northern Lights tonight.

Here's a view of the coronal mass ejection: http://www.spaceweather.com/images2011/04aug11/cme_04aug11.gif?PHPSESSID=23sunmi35tu90un6vtis53hfd7.

According to Rao, as soon as it gets dark tonight, just scan the sky, especially toward the North. If there is an aurora in progress you'll know immediately because it can appear as bright moving rays or curtains waving in a breeze. Obviously, the farther away you can get from bright city lights, the better your chances of seeing any activity. The colors are usually whitish, but aquamarine and reds can also appear as well.

However, Rao cautions that we might see nothing more than an amorphous band of light sitting just above the northern horizon. It all depends on how energetic the cloud of particles shot from the Sun interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. These particles do not head directly for the Earth's magnetic poles. They actually hit the radiation belts which encircle the Earth near the equator.

Let's hope Mother Nature gives us this unique opportunity. I know I'll be watching.

Paul

Hurricane Forecast Team Sticks to Earlier Prediction

Longtime area residents will no doubt remember the two hurricanes which struck southwestern Connecticut with great fury 56 years ago this month. Hurricane Connie soaked New England with torrential rains on August 12 and 13, 1955. Then, just five days later, Tropical Storm Diane followed suit creating massive flooding not seen since the 1930s.

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. This is a photo of Winsted, virtually devastated by the flood.

We've been extremely fortunate in recent years with respect to hurricanes and tropical weather, but that doesn't mean we should let our guard down at all. The well-respected forecast team at Colorado State University stuck to its earlier seasonal hurricane forecasts yesterday, calling for 16 named storms, including nine hurricanes, with five of them major storms packing winds of more than 110 miles per hour.

The CSU team’s leaders, Phil Klotzbach and William Gray, predict that this season be similar to hurricane seasons in 1952, 1966, 2005, and 2008. The team points to a warm sea surface temperature and unusually low sea-level pressure in the tropical Atlantic among the reasons Florida could see a very active hurricane season.

They also point to Pacific Ocean conditions that are neutral between El Nino and La Nino. El Ninos is a warmer-than- usual pattern in the Pacific that can create winds that shear apart hurricanes before they form. La Nina — a cooler than usual pattern — and neutral conditions have no such effect.

For the remainder of the season, Klotzbach also recalculated probabilities for a major hurricane making landfall on the U.S. coast:

•A 70 percent chance that a major hurricane will make landfall on the United States coastline;

•A 46 percent chance for the East Coast, including Florida. The long-term average for the last century is 31 percent;

•A 45 percent chance for the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle West to Brownsville. The full-season average for the last century is 30 percent.

Many people still remember Hurricane Gloria in September of 1985, but the combination of Connie and Diane 30 years earlier 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. Let's hope we never see that again.

For now, though, we continue to watch Tropical Storm Emily, which showed continued signs of disorganization and slowed to dump torrential rains on Hispaniola. Emily's forecast track still shows the storm will regroup and brush past South Florida, with the latest track a bit further east than had been feared Wednesday.

Paul

Lightning Over the Atlantic Video

Ralph Fato of Norwalk sent the following video to me. He wrote, "Here’s a five minute edited video of lightning over the Atlantic Ocean Monday night (August 1). I caught over 15 bolts on camera. It was incredible to watch. Winds were sustained around 15-20 mph at one point on the beach."

He used a Kodak z990 to capture the video. Click the 720 HD option.



Paul

Hot & Dry July by the Numbers

The official weather statistics for July have been tabulated and, as expected, the month was much warmer and drier than normal. The highlight of last month was the 103-degree temperature on July 22, which tied the all-time record high for southwestern Connecticut. Just one day later, the mercury soared to 96 degrees during the hottest part of the month.

The daily average temperature for July was 77.6 degrees, which is more than three-and-a-half degrees above the normal average (74) and less than a degree away from the record of 78.4 degrees set in 1994. There were five days which saw temperatures climb above 90 degrees, including July 11 (91 degrees), July 12 (95), and July 30 (91).

All but two of the first 13 days of July were warmer than normal. The hottest stretch happened from July 16 through July 24 when the daily average temperature was above normal for nine consecutive days. All told, there were only six days with cooler-than-normal temperatures, but five of those were just a degree below normal and one (July 25) was just two degrees cooler-than-normal.

Only two inches of rain fell last month, which is slightly better than half the normal rainfall (3.77") for July. There were only eight days with measured precipitation, but only four days with more than two-hundredths of an inch of rain. Two days featured at least a half-inch of rain, including July 26 (0.80") and July 8 (0.50"). The only other day with substantial rain happened July 18 (0.45").

Although August got off to a wild start with strong thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, a quieter day is expected. Today will be mostly sunny, quite warm, and somewhat less humid with afternoon temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80s. Tonight will be partly cloudy and mild with a low near 60. A few scattered showers and possibly a thunderstorm are expected tomorrow with highs in the upper 70s to close to 80 degrees.

Paul

August Weather Traditionally Hot and Tropical

August is about to pick up where July left off. Today will be hot and humid with late-afternoon thunderstorms and a high temperature close to 90 degrees. Some of the storms may be strong with heavy rain, vivid lightning, and gusty winds. You'll certainly need to be aware of the weather if you're going to be outdoors today.

You may recall that last August was much warmer than normal. We experienced a heat wave the last three days of the month, and the average monthly temperature (75.1 degrees) was less than one degree from the record of 76 degrees set in 1955. Five years ago, we christened August with a heat wave when the first three days established record high temperatures of 95, 96, and 97 degrees, respectively, at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford.

Traditionally, August is the second warmest month of the year with a mean average temperature of 73.1 degrees, just behind July's average of 74 degrees, based on 40 years worth of data. The mercury has actually climbed to 100 degrees twice --- on August 9, 2001, and August 27, 1948. In fact, the daily record highs for the month never dip below 90 degrees. The warmest August on record (1955) featured two of the most potent rainstorms on record.

However, there are subtle signs that Summer is in decline over the next four weeks. The normal high temperature falls from 82 degrees on August 1 to 78 degrees by the end of the month. The overall mean temperature drops from 75 degrees to 70 by August 31. In fact, the record low temperature on August 29 is 44 degrees!

Daily sunshine continues to dwindle, too. We'll enjoy 14 hours and 21 minutes of daylight today. But, by the last day of the month, the Sun is out for 13 hours and nine minutes. We lose about an hour and a quarter of daylight over the next 31 days. In fact, sunrise occurs at 6:18 and sets at 7:27 by August 31. Remember, on the first day of Summer, the Sun set at 8:30.

As far as rainfall is concerned, the month averages about 3.75" of precipitation. The wettest August happened in 1952 when 13.29" of rain fell. There have been some drenching rains in August, including 4.66" on August 19, 1991, 4.01" on August 27, 2006, 3.99" on August 11, 2000, 3.92" on August 12, 1955, and 3.69" on August 21, 1952. Remember, we are in the heart of hurricane season, and tropical moisture is always a threat.

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. 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. There was tremendous destruction in the Naugatuck River Valley, especially in the city of Ansonia.

Let's hope this August is somewhat quieter and more tolerable. After the thunderstorms roll through the region later this evening, some tranquil weather is expected tomorrow. Another shower or storm is possible Wednesday, followed by sunny and warm weather the rest of the week.

Paul