Unusually Dry April One for the Record Books

We need some rain. This month has been quite dry. In fact, it will be the third driest April on record across southwestern Connecticut. Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford has received just over one inch (1.08") of  rain through yesterday, which is well below the 3.62" normal through the date. April is normally the third wettest month of the year with 3.99" of precipitation, just behind March (4.15") and May (4.03").

In fact, this will be the second driest month since January of 2010. Local climatologist Ralph Fato of Norwalk took a look at the precipitation totals for each of the last 40 months, and the only drier month than this month was last March when just 1.04" of rain fell. There have been just six days with measured rain this month, with the highest single-day total of 0.51" on April 12. Two days (April 10 & April 20) had a half-inch of rain.

Magnifying the dry weather was a drier-than-normal March. Just over two-and-a-half inches (2.51") of precipitation fell last month, which was more than an inch-and-a-half below normal. There were just seven out of 31 days (22%) with measured precipitation in March. Two days (March 8 & 12) had well over a half-inch of precipitation, while four of the days had less than a quarter of an inch.

The latest Drought Monitor as of April 23 classifies our region as being "abnormally dry," although not officially in a drought. However, no major storms are expected over the next week, which will not help. There may be a brief sprinkle or shower Monday, but that's about it. Much of the Plains is either in exceptional drought or extreme drought.

Since March 1, we've received less than 50% normal precipitation. The 3.62" over the last two months is well below the 7.53" normal. We've had more than 10 inches of precipitation (10.64") this year, which is still well below the 13.42" normal through the period. I suspect if the trend continues for the next week or longer, the region will be in a "moderate drought" classification.

Despite the dearth of rain, you should get outside this weekend. It will be one of the nicest weekends this year. We can expect mostly sunny skies and daytime high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60s tomorrow and Sunday. Nighttime lows will drop into the 30s tomorrow morning and mid 40s by Sunday. Monday will become mostly cloudy with a sprinkle or two possible, but not nearly enough to offset the extremely dry weather over the last two months.

Paul

Record Single-Day Rainfall Happened Seven Years Ago Today

April weather can certainly be damp and cool across southwestern Connecticut, but what happened seven years ago today was unforgettable and record-setting. We were deluged with rain Sunday, April 23, 2006, and it caused flooded basements, closed roads, forced evacuations, and claimed two lives locally. In fact, nearly a half-foot of rain fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport, making it the highest single-day rainfall total on record.

Unfortunately, the rain continued to hammer southwestern Connecticut all day long, while the Sun was shining at Yankee Stadium during the baseball game between New York and Baltimore in the Bronx. That was probably the most frustrating aspect, just waiting for the rain to stop. The rain was moving from South-to-North instead of West-to-East.

There's no question the 6.39" of rain which fell in Fairfield seven years ago today is the most ever in one-day in my lifetime. I can't ever recall that much rain in a 24-hour period. The previous October was record-setting due to the foot-and-a-half of rain which fell during the month, but it was spread out over a prolonged period of time. This time, nearly two months worth of rain fell in 24 hours.

Firefighters evacuated more than 30 people, including infants, with an inflatable boat as more than five feet of water flooded streets between Halley Avenue and Mountain Grove Cemetery in Fairfield that day. Fire Chief Richard Felner, a good friend of mine, said that nobody was injured in the worst flooding to hit Fairfield in at least a decade.

Around town, most of the people with whom I spoke had their own tales to tell. Most of the people who live along the Rooster River said it was the worst flooding in their neighborhood in more than 25 years. According to The Connecticut Post, Toni Bodor of Fairfield said what many of us felt. "It just kept going. Before we knew it, it was right to the top of the wheels of my car. It happened so suddenly. I kept checking out one window, the front and back, before I realized I couldn't move my car."

The magnitude of the flooding in Fairfield hit me with news of the death of a town resident. According to our morning newscast, seventy-one year old Elsbeth Schubiger lived with her husband on Bradford Street, just feet from the Rooster River. Investigators found her body lodged between a tree and a retaining wall the following morning.

Police say Schubiger was cleaning up debris along the swollen river when she apparently slipped, lost her balance, and fell into the fast-moving waters. Her death is a tragic reminder of nature's wrath, even in one's own backyard.

As for neighboring Bridgeport, the city established a single-day record of 5.3" which caused 13 people to be evacuated from an apartment building where up to four-feet of water built up in front of the three-story structure. Firefighters were able to remove six residents by boat, while the seven remaining residents were escorted to safety 45 minutes later.

Westport received nearly a half-foot of rain (5.37"), and the heavy rains contributed to the death of a Shelton child early Sunday morning. The youngster, who celebrated her first birthday the previous Tuesday, died when the car in which she was riding, slid out of control on the Merritt Parkway in Westport.

Rainfall totals from across southwestern Connecticut were impressive, to say the least. Other communities with at least four inches of rain included Milford (5.46"), New Canaan (5.17"), Norwalk (4.87"), Woodbridge (4.79"), and Southport (4.31"). Consider that the normal rainfall for the entire month of April is 3.99" based on 40 years of averages.

A storm system will pass to the East today, bringing cloudy skies, gusty winds, and much cooler-than-normal temperatures. The mercury may even struggle to reach 50 degrees. The normal high temperature for this time of the year is 60 degrees. It has been a relatively dry April, although some showers are expected tomorrow night. Fair and seasonable weather will return later Thursday through the upcoming weekend.

Paul

Celebrate Earth Day This Monday

This Monday, April 22, is Earth Day, which was first observed 43 years ago on the same date in 1970. There's no question we've become better stewards of our planet over the last four decades. Earth Day founder Senator Gaylord Nelson passed away in July of 2005 at the age of 89. He believed strongly that education is the key to changing people’s attitudes about the environment, and he devoted much of his time and energy to that challenge.

“The idea of Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962,” he wrote before his death. “For several years it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November of 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political ‘limelight’ once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue. It was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.”

According to Senator Nelson, the first Earth Day “worked” because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. Though he felt he and his committee had neither the time nor resources to organize the 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated, “it organized itself.”

So, how have things changed in the last 43 years? Certainly, we’ve become more aware of the need to take better care of our planet. Many imporant laws were passed in the wake of the first Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, and laws to protect water, wild lands, and the ocean. The Environmental Protection Agency was created within three years of the first Earth Day.

Personally, I’ve seen a dramatic change over the last 43 years. What I clearly remember as a child is taking a weekly pilgrimage with my Dad every Saturday afternoon to the town dump. Dad loaded the family car with all kinds of debris and junk from the basement, and we followed the dirt path, greeted the seagulls, and dumped everything at the landfill. The garbage was simply buried. Today, our garbage is turned into electricity or, in some cases, steam.

Garbage isn’t something most of us want to think about, but managing nearly 230 tons we generate each year has consequences. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of garbage Americans generate has increased from 88 million tons to over 229 million tons since 1960. Forty-seven years ago, Americans produced about 2.7 pounds of garbage each day. By 2001, though, that amount jumped to 4.4 pounds a person each day.

I’m impressed at what has been done locally to address the issue of waste reduction. The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority’s Bridgeport Project consists of a 2,250 ton-per-day mass-burn trash-to-energy facility, eight transfer stations, two landfills, a regional recycling center, and the Children’s Garbage Museum. The Bridgeport Project provides solid waste disposal and recycling services to 20 Connecticut communities in Fairfield and New Haven counties.

The Bridgeport Project trash-to-energy plant, which is located at 6 Howard Avenue in Bridgeport is truly an impressive facility. Take your family there, and I’m sure all of you will be amazed at what you see. It’s the perfect example of how “one man’s trash becomes another man’s treasure.” I’ve visited the plant several times, and each time I come away with a better understanding of how we manage our trash.

The solid waste is burned in a controlled environment to create electricity. Through this process, the volume of solid waste is reduced by about 90%. Waste-to-energy plants nationwide generate enough electricity to power nearly 2.3 million homes. Energy created in the Bridgeport facility has about the same environmental impact as energy produced from natural gas, and less impact than from oil or coal plants.

Recycling? We never bothered to recycle anything over a generation ago. Everything was considered “trash” back then. Now, we carefully sort our recyclables each week and place them in the blue bins. Recycled items include paper, aluminum, steel, plastics, glass, scrap tips, cell phones, and electronics. Americans recycled and composted nearly 30% of municipal solid waste in 2001, diverting 68 million tons to recovery.

Did you know, for example, that 71% of all newspapers are recovered for recycling? Over a third goes back into making more newsprint. The remainder is used to make paperboard, tissue, and insulation. Seventy-four percent of boxes are recycled, and nearly 46% of office papers are recovered for recycling. These become raw material for printing and writing paper.

So, yes, we’ve come a long way since the first Earth Day was “celebrated” on April 22, 1970. Much has been done since then, but there’s still a long way to go. Gaylord Nelson said education was the key to changing people’s attitudes about the environment, and the more aware we become about our planet, the better we'll be able to take care of it.

Paul

Fishing Season Opens

Opening Day of the new fishing season is Saturday, and it looks like a rainy start for the early-morning anglers. However, any showers will quickly taper off by 8 or 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, and we'll see clearing skies with daytime high temperatures close to 60 degrees, which is just about normal for this time of the year. Sunday will be the pick of the weekend, though, under sunny skies and highs in the upper 50s off chilly morning lows in the 30s.

Anglers young and old alike are looking forward to tomorrow. Fishing is great family fun and a healthy outdoor activity enjoyed by everyone. The Department of Environmental Protection stocks many lakes and streams with a wide variety of fish species throughout the year. Some of the other programs developed by DEP to enhance fishing opportunities include fishing education for children and families and the creation of special fishing areas such as trout parks.

One of my neighbors told me that there's nothing quite like getting up in the middle of the night and heading to the nearest river or stream on Opening Day. He always looks forward to the first day of fishing season. He told me that he packs his breakfast and lunch and leaves the house well before sunrise. He admitted that he enjoys the peace and quiet of being out on the water so early in the morning. I'm sure his sentiments are shared by many others, too.

Connecticut is fortunate to have over 180 public lakes and ponds and thousands of miles of rivers and streams teeming with a variety of gamefish and panfish. Anglers from all over the country come to Connecticut to fish for prized trout in the Farmington and Housatonic Rivers. Eleven water bodies in Connecticut have been designated as Trout Parks. Trout Parks are located in easily accessible areas to enhance trout fishing opportunities for everyone.

The DEP Web site adds that anglers should consult their 2013 Angler’s Guide for the current fishing regulations that apply to the waters in which they plan to fish. Trout Parks and the many waters designated as Trout Management Areas, Trophy Trout Streams, Sea-Run Trout Streams, and Wild Trout Management Areas each have special regulations.

The 2013 Angler’s Guide is available at all Town Clerks Offices and at tackle stores selling fishing licenses. Anglers can now purchase their fishing licenses online, too. Both the Angler's Guide and the online licensing system can be accessed on the DEP web site at: www.ct.gov/dep/fishing. Good luck to all the anglers this Saturday.

Paul

Remembering the Nor'easter of Six Years Ago

A powerful Nor'easter hammered the region six years ago today, Sunday, April 15, 2007, causing widespread flooding, damage, and destruction to many homes and businesses across southwestern Connecticut. My basement was a disaster area, and the sight of water pouring into the cellar through the walls was alarming. Many local communities received well over a half-foot of rain in one day, including an incredible 7.50 inches in Weston.

Our viewers became an active part of the News 12 Connecticut weather team with their weather observations, comments, and photos. They always come through for us in major storms, and that day was no exception. Geoff Wood of Darien sent the adjacent photo of his home on Crimmins Road in Darien. "For us, this is the second time we have been flooded out of our house in six weeks," he wrote. Many people shared his pain.



Perhaps no picture better illustrates the destruction of the Nor'easter better than this one. Viewer Donna Dutko sent this photo of "the little pink antique store at the corner of Route 7 and Branchville Station." As you can see, the store collapsed from the force of the water and was partially submerged. The water was almost up to the railroad tracks, too.



Judy Callirgos of Redding sent many photos of the flooding on her street, in her yard, and around her home. "I live on the Saugatuck and my house was truly an island yesterday," she wrote. "I had to create a dam at the end of my driveway to divert the water." Redding also received over a half-foot of rain, leading to flooding problems throughout town.



Cynthia Zizzi of the Cos Cob section of Greenwich sent several photos along upper Valley Road in North Mianus. Cynthia wrote, "Paul, I walk my dog, Dodger, a golden retriever, every day weather permitting, and these are some of my favorite views. The best is the old foundation. I believe it was an old home or could have been part of the woolen mill that burned in 1938."



Sheridan Black of Milford forwarded some photos from Bayview Beach of waves crashing against homes along the shoreline. She wrote, "Last night (Sunday night), I decided to stay the night at my beach house with my aunt and uncle. The whole road was flooded and the water came right up to the deck. The water is usually 30 feet away from the house, and now, if I wanted to, I could stand on the deck and touch it."



Stamford recorded nearly seven inches of rain (6.84"), causing massive flooding of roads and headaches for motorists. Martin Silverman told of "the extreme road conditions at the intersection of High Ridge Road and Wire Mill." Notice the plow attempting to push the standing water off High Ridge Road near the Merritt Parkway. I've heard many stories from motorists who had to find alternate routes or who were stranded on flooded roads during the height of the flooding.



Darien received nearly a half-foot of rain (5.93"). Richard Miller took this photo of Hoyt Street Sunday afternoon, April 15, at 4 o'clock. He jokingly wrote, "I thought I would share this with you before we go for a lap swim." As you can see, driving was dangerous just about everywhere.



New Canaan was another community which received nearly a half-foot of rain (5.40"). John Festo sent us several pictures of Mill Pond overflowing its banks. It almost looks as though the force of the raging water is about to cover the bridge and send it sailing downstream. Also, the banks of the river were already flooded.



The view from Fairfield Beach was wet and windy. Kathy wrote, "This is a view of my backyard. I live one block from Fairfield Beach on Reef Road. My yard is flooded from the rain only, and now we are waiting for high tide to see if we need to evacuate. It was so windy we could lean into the wind, and it held us up." Fairfield was one of the communities which received well over a half-foot of rain (6.55") in one day.



I'm sure you'll never forget the Nor'easter of Sunday, April 15, 2007. I know I won't.

Paul

April Snowstorm 17 Years Ago Today Capped Snowiest Season on Record

Seasonal snowfall records were smashed across much of New England when heavy, wet snow buried Northern New England and delivered nearly a foot of snow (11.3″) to Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford from the evening of April 9 through the morning of April 10, 1996. It was a fitting end to the Winter that just didn’t seem to want to end. In fact, the first snowfall of the season happened the previous November.

When the last flake had fallen, 75.8″ of snow had fallen in southwestern Connecticut that Winter, breaking the previous mark of 71.3″ established over 60 years earlier in 1933-34. Hartford finished the 1995-96 Winter with a record 114.6 inches, which eclipsed the previous mark of 84.9 inches only two years earlier. Here’s a look at snowfall records which were established in the Northeast during the 1995-96 season:



What I most remember about that snowstorm was a telephone call I received from my brother and sister-in-law, who were living in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, at the time. That little town at the base of Mount Monadnock made national headlines when the second major snowstorm in three days produced nearly two feet (21 inches) of snow. My brother and sister-in-law were convinced that they were snowbound for awhile.

We also laughed about how much we were looking forward to seeing the first-ever baseball game at the brand new New Britain Stadium just two days later. The Eastern League’s Rock Cats were unveiling their state-of-the-art ballpark against the rival New Haven Ravens, and we were convinced the game wasn’t going to happen. We had purchased tickets well in advance. However, the game did go on as scheduled, and we enjoyed the festivities, despite temperatures in the lower 30s and snow in the parking lot!

Consider that the normal average snowfall for southwestern Connecticut for the month of April is only 0.9″ based on 40 years of record-keeping, and the normal average Winter snowfall is about 26.3 inches. Comparatively speaking, this past Winter produced over five feet of snow. After a record high temperature of 81 degrees yesterday, and another mild day ahead, think back 17 years ago when the last snowstorm of the snowiest Winter on record hit southwestern Connecticut. I know I will.

Paul

Today Marks 31st Anniversary of Snowiest April Day on Record

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the snowiest April day on record in southwestern Connecticut. Take a look out the window today, and it's hard to imagine that exactly a half-foot of snow fell on April 6, 1982. What made the storm even more memorable were the gusty winds and cold temperatures. Record lows of 19, 18, and 23 degrees were established from April 6 through April 8, 1982, respectively, well below the 38-degree normal low temperature for this time of the year.

The snowstorm of Tuesday, April 6,1982, was one of the most remarkable late season snowfalls to strike the Northeast. Snowfall accumulations from 10 inches to over a foot occurred over much of Long Island, but the accompanying very cold temperatures and high winds caused extensive blowing and drifting of snow which was unprecedented for early April. Take a look at the following photo from New York City during the height of the storm.

More than a foot of snow (13") fell at Newark, New Jersey, 10 inches (9.8") blanketed New York City, and over two feet of snow was measured in upstate New York. The primary storm resurfaced off the New Jersey coast, producing gale force winds of up to 60 miles an hour. It was the heaviest April snow in New York City since April 3 and 4 of 1915 when 10 inches fell.

The heavy snow forced the cancellation of the Yankees’ 1982 home opener against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium. Even worse, the weather stayed cold, and the Yanks cancelled another game against Texas, two games against the White Sox, and they eventually opened on Easter Sunday, April 11, 1982, by dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Chicago.

While the storm of 31 years ago had a mid-Winter look and feel, today will be much quieter across southwestern Connecticut. Another sunny and windy day is ahead, and the fire danger remains quite high with low humidity, gusty breezes, and extremely dry ground. High temperatures will reach the lower 50s. That's nothing like the weather we experienced 31 years ago today.

Paul

Osborn Hill School's First-Graders Shine as Weekly Weatherkids

I returned to my former elementary school this week and met with the first-graders at Osborn Hill School in Fairfield. The children enjoyed the many weather experiments, trivia, prizes, and being LIVE on television, Wednesday morning, April 3, 2013. It was a lot of fun.



Paul

Red Flag Warning Issued for Connecticut

Normally, this is the wettest time of the year across southwestern Connecticut. However, it has been extremely dry over the last two weeks. Just two of the last 12 days have featured measured rain, amounting to less than a quarter-inch (0.17"). Today will be another dry and windy day. As a result, a Red Flag Warning has been issued for all of Connecticut from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today.

A Red Flag Warning alerts area firefighters and land management agencies that conditions are ideal for wildland fire ignition. The warning becomes a critical statement for firefighting agencies, which often alter their staffing and equipment resources dramatically to accommodate the forecast risk. To the public, a Red Flag Warning means high fire danger with increased probability of a quickly spreading vegetation fire in the area within 24 hours.

In addition to the dry ground, a Northwest wind will continue to gust between 20 and 30 miles an hour through this afternoon, along with extremely low humidity levels. Dew points are only in the upper single digits and lower teens this morning, while the relative humidity is less than 40 percent. These ingredients could result in the rapid spread of a brush fire if one were to start. Also, air temperatures will continue to run about 10 degrees below normal for this time of the year.

You can do your part to help prevent fires during extremely dry conditions. Obviously, always put out cigarettes properly and don't jusy discard them on the ground. That's the easiest way for a fire to start. Keep firewood away from your home, clean up weeds and grass clippings, and pick up any extra trash and debris which may be in your yard. Remember, it only takes a carelessly disposed cigarette to ignite a wild fire, and it could spread rapidly with the dry and windy conditions.

A few showers are possible Friday morning, but there are no major storms in the seven-day forecast. A series of weak disturbances will bring more clouds Sunday through the middle of next week, but only a few showers are expected by Tuesday. Daytime highs will rebound nicely into the 50s by the end of the weekend and into the 60s by the middle of next week.

Paul

April Showers to Kick off New Month

Welcome to April! The major league baseball season opens today for the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets, with both New York teams hosting Opening Day festivities. Although it won't be a perfect Spring day, temperatures will climb into the 50s with a gusty West wind and a few showers this afternoon. The weather could certainly be much worse this time of the year.

I welcome April with some degree of trepidation. Three of the last seven years there have been flooding rains across southwestern Connecticut during April. Six years ago, on Sunday, April 15, 2007, over three inches (3.02″) of rain fell in one day at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, causing widespread catastrophic flooding throughout the region. Unofficially, well over a half-foot of rain soaked many communities throughout the area. The rain didn’t let up until the following day, bringing the two-day total to 3.51 inches.

The previous year, on Sunday, April 23, 2006, 5.30″ of rain fell at the airport, highlighting a three-day stretch which saw nearly a half-foot (5.79″) of rain. That capped a stretch of nearly eight inches of rain (7.98″) in a 24-day period. The ground was already saturated prior to the deluge, since six of the first eight days of the month saw measured rain, producing nearly two inches (1.93″) in just over one week.

Based on the last 40 years, the average rainfall for April is 3.99 inches, ranking it third behind March (4.15″) and May (4.03″) as the wettest months of the year. The wettest April on record happened in 1983 when 10.72″ was recorded at Sikorsky Memorial Airport. The driest occurred just two years later when only 0.69″ fell in 1985. The most memorable single-day rain events other than April 23, 2007, happened on April 21 of 2000 (3.34″), April 10, 1983 (3.15″), and April 13, 2004 (3.08″).

April is certainly a month of extremes in southwestern Connecticut as temperatures have ranged from a high of 91 degrees on April 28, 1991, to a low of 18 degrees on April 7, 1982. The warmest April on record averaged 56.7 degrees in 1954, while the coldest happened 47 years ago when the average temperature was 43.4 degrees in 1966. The mean temperature climbs from 45 degrees at the start of the month to 54 degrees by April 30.

Snow is not out of the question for April. In fact, a trace of snow has fallen as late as April 28, while a half-foot fell on April 6, 1982, which was Major League Baseball’s Opening Day and forced the postponement of the Yankees’ home debut in New York. The average snowfall for the month is less than an inch (0.09″). You may remember 17 years ago, though, when seven inches of snow fell April 10, 1996, capping the snowiest Winter on record in southwestern Connecticut when 78″ fell along the coast and over 100″ inland.

The length of daylight continues to grow considerably this month. Today's sunrise happens at 6:35, and it rises before 6 o’clock (5:51) at the end of the month. More dramatic, though, is the time of sundown. The Sun sets at 7:18 this evening, but it doesn’t drop below the horizon until 7:49 April 30. Daylight is increasing at the rate of two to three minutes per day this month. Daylight grows from 12 hours and 43 minutes at the start of April to almost 14 hours (13:58) by the end of the month.

Happy April!

Paul