A powerful blizzard, which delivered about a foot-and-a-half of snow, 60 mile-per-hour wind gusts, and power outages throughout southwestern Connecticut, struck the region one year ago today, triggering an unforgettable stretch of snowstorms which brought 60 inches of snow during the Winter of 2010-2011. The timing of the blizzard, which affected thousands of holiday travelers, and the magnitude of the storm made it one for the ages.
I've been working the early-morning shift at News 12 Connecticut since June of 1995, and in those 15-plus years, there have been only a handful of truly memorable storms. However, this was the first time I wasn't able to drive to work on my own. One of my neighbors agreed to drive me to the studio in his snowplow during the height of the blizzard early Monday morning. I'm glad he did. To be sure, my Chevy Cavalier wouldn't have made the journey from Fairfield to Norwalk.
Officially, 12 inches of snow fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford from Sunday morning through early Monday morning. The eight inches of snow which fell December 26 marked the third snowiest December day on record in southwestern Connecticut. Only December 19, 1948 (16 inches), and December 30, 2000 (10 inches), brought more snow in one day. Here are some impressive snow totals from last year's post-Christmas storm:
- Wilton: 18"
- New Canaan: 17.5"
- Greenwich: 17"
- Stratford: 16"
- Norwalk: 16"
- Westport: 14.8"
- Darien: 14.5"
- Milford: 14"
- Bridgeport: 12"
The biting wind was brutal if you were outside for any length of time. Sustained winds of 25 to 35 miles an hour were recorded late Sunday night and Monday, December 27, and wind gusts reached 60 miles at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford (9:21 p.m.) and Greenwich (10:00 p.m.) late Sunday evening. I was surprised that there weren't more widespread power outages.
Contrast that scenario with today and this December. In fact, we have yet to see a flake of snow this month. There have only been two other years (1877 and 2006) without any snow since weather records were first kept in New York City in 1869. This may very well be just the third December in the last 142 years without any snow at all. Quite frankly, I don't mind at all.
Paul
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