Late December Snowstorm Pushed Seasonal Total to Nearly a Foot-and-a-Half

A storm system brought significant snow to Eastern Connecticut and plowable snow across Fairfield County yesterday. The late-December storm, which arrived early Saturday afternoon, intensified as it moved away to the East, delivering nearly a foot of snow across parts of New Haven and New London counties. Officially, nearly five inches (4.8") of snow fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, bringing the monthly total to nearly eight inches (7.8").

That brought the seasonal snowfall total to nearly a foot-and-a-half (16.2"), which is more than double the normal (7.3") through the date. That's more than four times greater than last year's total (4.0") through December 30. It was the fourth day with measured snowfall in December and the eighth day this month with at least a trace of snow. Take a look at this photo sent by Lisa Chubinsky in Wilton. Her sons, Michael and Eric, made their first snowman of the season.

Officially, Shelton had the highest snow total across Fairfield County (6.3"), followed by New Canaan (5.8"), Newtown (5.4"), Bridgeport (4.6"), Redding (4.5"), Weston (4.3"), Norwalk (3.2"), and Darien (2.3"). New Haven County and points East received much more snow. In fact, Madison measured nearly a foot (11.2") West Haven had over a half foot (7.0"), and Milford had nearly a half-foot (5.0").

Paul

Full Long Night Moon Happens Early Friday Morning

I'm sure you've been noticing the waxing Moon over the last week. In case you're wondering, the Full Moon happens early tomorrow at 5:21 EST. We should be able to get a good view of our satellite tonight as skies will remain mostly clear. Not surprisingly, this month's Full Moon is known as either the Full Cold Moon or the Full Long Night Moon.

Why is it called the Full Long Night Moon? During December, the Winter cold fastens its grip in the Northern Hemisphere, and nights are at their longest and darkest. The term Long Night Moon is also an appropriate name because the early Winter night is long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

In fact, the December Full Moon has been referred to as the Oak Moon, the Frost Moon, the Cold Moon, and the Moon Before Yule. No matter what the name, the Full Moon in December is directly opposite the Sun; therefore it is out for a long time. Since the Moon appears to follow nearly the same path as the Sun in the sky, the amount of time the Moon spends above the horizon varies as it orbits the Earth. The Moon is Full when it is opposite the Sun in the sky, so a Full Moon rises roughly at sunset and sets at sunrise. Therefore, we only see Full Moons at night.

Six months from now, on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year when the Sun spends the most time above the horizon, the Full Moon spends the least amount of time above the horizon. On the other hand, on the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year when the Sun spends the least time above the horizon, the Full Moon spends the most amount of time above the horizon. The time spent above the horizon each night for the Full Moon varies throughout the year about as much as the length of the day.

As far as the forecast goes, sunny skies are expected Friday before a storm system arrives this weekend. Snow will develop Saturday morning and continue through much of the day. By the time the system exits the region by midnight, three-to-five inches will coat the ground, making travel quite difficult. A gusty Northwest wind will develop in the wake of the system by Sunday, but no precipitation is likely through Monday.

Paul

Powerful Blizzard Two Years Ago Today Christened Unforgettable Winter of 2010-11

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 two years 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 17-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 the 2010 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.



Another storm is bearing down on southwestern Connecticut later this evening and tonight. The precipitation will start as snow late this afternoon, but gradually change to rain from South to North as an East wind begins to gust between 50 and 60 miles an hour. A Coastal Flood Warning will be in effect from 8 o'clock this evening through midnight, while a High Wind Warning will be in effect for the shoreline from 4 p.m. through 6 a.m. Be prepared for power outages and localized flooding of low-lying areas. One-to-two inches of rain may fall by tomorrow morning.

Paul

St. Mary School Fourth-Graders Star as Weekly Weatherkids

I visited with the fourth-graders at St. Mary School in Milford this week. It was one of my favorite visits of the year. The children enjoyed the experiments, trivia, and being on television.

"Thank you again for coming," wrote fourth-grade teacher Christine LoConte. "My kids will not stop talking about it. They had a great time and they learned so much. Thank you again!"

Paul

First Snowstorm of 2009-2010 Season Arrived Three Years Ago Today

The first major snowstorm of 2009-2010 blasted southwestern Connecticut three years ago today, with some local communities receiving close to a foot of snow. Fortunately, the storm arrived late Saturday evening, December 19, 2009, giving most people ample time to prepare well in advance. The highest snow totals were recorded across southeastern Connecticut, while parts of Litchfield County saw nothing more than a trace of snow.

Here is a look at snowfall totals from across the region from December 19 and 20, 2009:

• Darien: 10.5"
• New Canaan: 10.3"
• Milford: 10"
• Bridgeport: 9"
• Fairfield: 9"
• Norwalk: 8"
• Woodbridge: 7.5"

Officially, at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, six inches of snow fell Saturday, and 3.2 inches accumulated Sunday, December 20, 2009, for a total of 9.2 inches. The snow happened one day before the Winter Solstice. Over a foot of snow (13.4") was recorded at the airport in December 2009, including two inches on December 9, and just over two inches on New Year's Eve day.



The normal average snowfall for December is 3.6 inches, based on 40 years of averages, or climatology. The snowiest December day on record in southwestern Connecticut happened December 19, 1948, when 16 inches blanketed the region. You may recall that two years ago, a foot of snow fell from December 26 through December 27, triggering one of the snowiest periods in recent memory. You may also recall the Winter storm of December 30, 2000, when ten inches fell.

No snowstorms are in sight through the next seven days. Today will be mostly cloudy, breezy, and milder with a high temperatures in the low-to-mid 50s. Tomorrow and Thursday will be fair, windy, and colder before another rainstorm arrives Thursday night into Friday. The weekend and Christmas Eve will be much colder and blustery with daytime highs not escaping the 30s.

Paul

Winter Solstice Exactly One Week Away

This morning's low temperatures were the coldest of the week. The mercury dropped into the 20s even along the immediate shoreline under clear skies and light winds. There are two storm systems which will affect the region next week. The first brings snow early Sunday morning, quickly changing to rain by mid-morning, and then more rain Sunday night into Monday. The next system will bring a mix of snow and rain Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

We're exactly one week away from the start of Winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Winter officially arrives next Friday, December 21, at 6:12 a.m. EST. Whenever I visit a school to conduct my Weatherkids program, many schoolchildren ask me why the start of a new season doesn't begin at midnight on a certain date, much like the beginning of a new year. The answer has to do with the Earth, the tilt on its axis, and its revolution around the Sun.

I've always maintained that the start of a new season is more of an "event" than watching the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve. That's because New Year's Day is a "man-made" holiday which can arbitrarily occur at any time during a calendar year. An equinox or a solstice, however, marks a precise time when the Sun's rays strike a particular point on the face of the Earth. I try to observe the arrival of a new season, and next Thursday will be no exception.

As the Earth travels around the Sun in its orbit, the North-South position of the Sun changes over the course of the year due to the changing orientation of the Earth's tilt with respect to the Sun. The dates of maximum tilt of the Earth's equator correspond to the Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice, and the dates of zero tilt correspond to the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice is day of the year when the Sun is farthest South. However, in the Southern Hemisphere, the Winter and Summer Solstices are the opposite, so that the Winter Solstice occurs on the first day of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun's direct rays will be over the Tropic of Capricorn next Thursday morning.

The Winter Solstice also marks the "shortest day" of the year in terms of daylight. The length of time elapsed between Sunrise and Sunset at the Winter Solstice is at a minimum for the year. Of course, Daylight Saving Time means that the last Sunday in March has 23 hours and the first Sunday in November has 25 hours, but it does not correspond to the actual number of daylight hours.

Finally, the shadows cast by the Sun will be at their longest by the end of next week, since the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky. The actual times of Sunrise and Sunset in southwestern Connecticut for the Solstice are 7:16 a.m. and 4:27 p.m., respectively. Consider that on the first day of Summer in late June, the Sun rises at 5:19 a.m. and sets at 8:30 p.m. So, next Friday's "length of day" is only nine hours and 11 minutes as opposed to 15 hours and 11 minutes exactly a half-year later.

So, as we prepare to welcome Winter, also realize that next Friday marks a turning point. The days will gradually begin to get longer from this point forward until the end of June. Things can only get brighter from here on out. Today and tomorrow will feature plenty of sunshine with a high near 50 this afternoon and in the lower 40s tomorrow. Enjoy it, however, as things start to get messy by Sunday morning. Have a good weekend.

Paul

Clear Skies Will Afford Great View of Geminid Meteor Showers

One of the most brilliant meteor showers of the year is expected to peak later tonight, and the weather should be just about perfect for viewing. The Geminid meteor showers will be at their peak from late-evening tonight  until dawn tomorrow. As a general rule, the shower intensifies after midnight and produces the greatest number of meteors for a few hours, centered around 2 a.m. That’s true no matter where you are around the globe. Skies will be mostly clear, but it will be quite cold with lows in the 20s inland and lower 30s along the shoreline.

The Geminids are a reliable and prolific shower, offering perhaps 50 meteors per hour in a dark sky. This year, NASA experts are suggesting the rates might be as high as 100 meteors per hour at the peak. However, you'll need to get away from city lights and find a wide open view of the sky. City, state and national parks are good, and you might be able to camp and make a night of it. Simply enjoy the comfort of a reclining lawn chair, the warmth of a sleeping bag, a thermos with a hot drink, and the company of family and friends, if they're willing to stay up and battle the cold!

The Geminids rank as one of the best meteor showers for the year in the Northern Hemisphere. You can also see this shower from the tropical and subtropical regions in the Southern Hemisphere. Farther south, the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower never gets very high in the sky, so the meteors are not as prevalent at temperate southerly latitudes.



This meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini the Twins. If you trace the paths of all the Geminid meteors backward, they appear to radiate from the certain point in front of Gemini. This point is called the meteor shower radiant, and is located near the star Castor.

Most meteor showers take place when our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of a comet. The comet debris plunges into Earth’s upper atmosphere, and the vaporizing particles fill the night with meteors. But the Geminid meteor shower appears to be an oddity. The shower’s parent body appears to be a near-Earth asteroid, rather than a comet. Astronomers have named this object 3200 Phaethon.

I'm sure I'll be able to see the "show" beautifully, since I'm up and out the door before 3 o'clock in the morning. I may make the extra effort tomorrow to get up a little earlier to spend some time outside watching the meteor showers. The fair weather tonight will continue tomorrow and into the start of the upcoming weekend before it turns unsettled late in the weekend through the middle of next week.

Paul

Dreaming of a White Christmas

The Winter Solstice is less than two weeks away, and Christmas is just 16 days from now. Not surprisingly, many people have asked me about the odds of seeing a "White Christmas." Light snow is expected by mid-morning through mid-afternoon tomorrow, and one-to-two inches are possible by tomorrow evening. Another storm is possible by Saturday.

So, what are the chances of snow by Christmas? Here in southwestern Connecticut, weather records have been kept for a long time. Our climatology is based on record-keeping over a 40-year period. Based on history, shoreline communities such as Stamford, Darien, Stratford, and Milford have a 30% chance of seeing at least one inch of snow on the ground by December 25. There's a 10% chance of at least five inches of snow on the ground by then. However, we have a zero percent probability of having ten inches of snow or more on our front lawns by Christmas morning.

Inland, the odds are more favorable. People living north of the Merritt or Wilbur Cross parkways have a 57% chance of at least one inch of snow for Christmas. The odds are slightly lower than one-in-four (23%) for five inches of snow, and quite slim (3%) for at least ten inches of snow. However, residents in Wilton, Redding, Easton, and Woodbridge have a much better opportunity of seeing snow on the ground than their shoreline counterparts.

As far as the rest of New England is concerned, the chance of a white Christmas gets even better. Northern Connecticut and southern Massachusetts have about a 40 to 60% chance of at least one inch of snow; central New England's chances improve to 60 to 80 percent; and northern New England (80 to 100%) is virtualy assured of having a White Christmas.

One of the more memorable snowstorms which occured in late December was the Christmas Eve storm of 1966. We received over a half-foot of snow (6.9"), making roads quite slippery and travel very difficult. I distinctly remember my family on our way to visit my grandmother in the snow, but my parents deciding the drive wasn't worth the risk. We turned around and headed for home, but the car slid several times on the snowy roadways.

You may recall the snowstorm which delivered more than nine inches of snow to southwestern Connecticut the weekend of December 19 and 20, 2009. The snow began late Saturday evening, and six inches had accumulated by midnight. The snow tapered off early Sunday morning, but not before another 3.2 inches caused headaches for holiday shoppers the last weekend before Christmas.

Another recent snow occurred on Christmas Day, 2002. Some light snow happened early that morning, but a steadier and heavier snow developed by later in the afternoon and evening. The snow totals were quite impressive locally. Darien received 10 inches of snow by the time the storm exited the following day. Redding (9.5"), New Canaan (9.2"), Norwalk (7.0"), Greenwich (7.0"), and Westport (6.5") each saw at least a half-foot of snow!

On the flip side, I'm sure you recall December of  2006. The afternoon high temperatures from December 23 to 26 reached 58, 52, 44, and 50 degrees respectively, well above the 38-degree normal high. Over an inch of rain fell December 23 (1.15") and over a quarter-inch (0.28") was recorded on Christmas Day. We were left dreaming of snow for quite some time.

Paul

LIVE Weathercast from Fairfield Woods Middle School

The sixth-graders at Fairfield Woods Middle School took part in a LIVE weather forecast from their school, Wednesday morning, December 5, 2012.

 

Paul

Surprise Snowstorm Hit Region 55 Years Ago Today

"They sure don't make 'em like they used to." How many times have you heard somebody say that? It applies to just about everything these days, especially our weather. Did you know that 55 years ago today a snowstorm virtually paralyzed southwestern Connecticut? Just about a half-foot of snow fell across the region, catching most everybody, including commuters and holiday shoppers, by surprise.

Officially, 5.1 inches of snow fell in Bridgeport on Wednesday, December 4, 1957, causing one of the greatest traffic jams in that city, according to The Bridgeport Post. The front-page article said that "Downtown streets were clogged with stalled traffic. The bumper-to-bumper situation persisted for five hours, delaying thousands of homeward-bound workers."



Many people were stranded temporarily when rides failed to show or scheduled buses ran well behind schedule. Bus lines and taxis reported many extra customers, but the traffic jam prevented them from reaching their destinations promptly. The New Haven Railroad reported that commuter trains were jammed all evening, but there were no train delays blamed on the storm.

Slowed to a snail's pace by the blinding snow, it took motorists an hour to an hour-and-a-half to travel from downtown Bridgeport to North Avenue. The greatest difficulty was crossing intersections clogged by autos inching along bumper-to-bumper. Cars standing in traffic for a prolonged period of time ran out of gas, adding to the confusion. Police noted numerous instances of car batteries and lights failing as cars stalled at intersections.



The weather bureau said a combination of unusual conditions caused the storm to pause at midday and strengthen a few hours later. The storm's intensification caught many people off guard and unprepared. The rapidly-falling snow created skidding hazards and all but erased the effects of the Department of Public Works' sanding operations earlier in the day.

The snowfall was the greatest in Bridgeport since a two-day storm in March of 1956 delivered 19.4 inches. Consider that the normal average snowfall for the entire month of December is 3.6 inches. Strong winds, especially during the evening and nighttime hours, caused considerable drifting of the snow 55 years ago today. Winds gusted over 35 to 40 miles an hour.

I wonder how many people remember that storm? If you do, I'd like to hear from you. I can only imagine what it must have been like for stranded motorists. They sure don't make 'em like they used to!

Paul

Cold November Ends Prolonged Warm Streak

The streak is over. For the first time since February of 2011, we've experienced a colder-than-normal month. November's average temperature of 42.7 degrees was 2.8 degrees below normal. Believe it or not, each of the previous 20 months was warmer-than-normal. In addition, November was much drier than normal, too, with just five days of measured precipitation.

November started on a chilly note with each of the first 10 days featuring average temperatures at or below normal. It was cooler-than-normal for seven straight days from Nov. 3 through Nov. 9. The month delivered another seven consecutive days with below-normal temperatures from Nov. 14 to Nov. 20. Finally, 15 of the last 17 days of the month had daily temperatures at or below-normal, including six straight cooler-than-normal days to wrap up the month.

Last month was the tenth coldest November on record at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. In fact, it was the coldest November since 1997. The following graph, produced by Ralph Fato, illustrates the top 10 coldest Novembers on record. Notice three of the coldest Novembers happened in the 1990s, and this is the only November this century to make the list.

It was also one of the coldest Novembers at Sikorsky Airport since 1950. Not only was it the coldest November this century, but it was also the coldest since November of 1997 (42.2 degrees). Ralph also created this bar graph illustrating the November mean temperatures at the airport over the last 62 years. Please click the image to enlarge.

November was also much drier than normal. The total precipitation for the month was 1.22 inches, which was more than two inches below normal (3.39"). Two of the five days with measured precipitation included the Nor'easter of  November 7 and 8, which brought six-tenths of an inch of liquid and 8.3 inches of snow, establishing all all-time record snowfall for the month. Another tenth of an inch of snow fell Nov. 27, when nearly a half-inch of liquid brought the monthly precipitation total to over an inch.

December is beginning on a mild note. Sunday's high temperature was 50 degrees, which is three degrees above normal, and the daily average temperature of 45 degrees is five degrees above normal. Early morning fog will lift, giving way to developing sunshine today with a high temperature in the mid 50s. The mercury may even reach 60 degrees tomorrow before a cold front arrives tomorrow night and early Wednesday, bringing scattered showers and cooler air by the end of the week.

Paul