Snowiest Season on Record Came to a Close 15 Years Ago Tomorrow

A storm system moving across the mid Atlantic region is spreading some light rain as far North as New York City this afternoon. A few light showers are possible through early this evening, but southwestern Connecticut should be spared any rain as high pressure controls our weather. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny and pleasant with highs in the mid 50s. However, things were a lot different around these parts 15 years ago tomorrow. I remember it quite well.

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 yielded five feet of snow. So, as you enjoy a pleasant day tomorrow, think back to 15 years ago when the last snowstorm of the snowiest Winter on record hit southwestern Connecticut. I know I will.

Paul

April Showers Wreak Havoc With Major League Baseball's Schedule

The major league baseball season is not even a week old, and the Yankees already had their first rain out. Last night's game between the visiting Minnesota Twins and host New York Yankees was postponed due to steady light rain, and no makeup date has been announced. The two teams will play just one game this afternoon before the Bronx Bombers travel to Boston to play the Red Sox in their home opener tomorrow afternoon.

Baseball and April weather in the Northeast just don’t mix very well. We’ve seen our fair share of rain, snow, wind, and below-freezing temperatures during April. Many fans come to the ballpark dressed as though they’re heading to a football game. They bring blankets, heavy coats, and even gloves. I’ve always felt that the baseball season shouldn’t start until May, but the bottom line is “the bottom line” in today’s big business world of professional sports, and more games means more money.

Consider what happened in April of 2007. Mother Nature played havoc with Major League baseball that month. Snow, rain, or threats of tornadoes forced postponement of 21 games during the month — including six games on April 15 —  the most for baseball’s first month of the season since 24 were postponed in 1997, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. In addition, four of the attempted makeup games were also postponed, meaning 25 games Major League Baseball tried to play in April couldn’t be played because of the weather.

While areas of the Northeast and Midwest were hardest hit, the postponements impacted all six divisions and all but six of baseball’s 30 teams. From April 3-17, at least one game was postponed because of weather every day except April 10. The only teams that were not involved in at least one weather postponement in April were the A’s, Reds, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres and Rockies. One year earlier, a total of eight games were postponed due to inclement weather.

However, if you think April weather can be brutal in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and the Northeast in general, imagine being a baseball fan in Seattle. Four years ago, no team lost more games to Mother Nature than the Mariners, who saw four games postponed because of snow, one by rain, and one at Texas on April 24 due to a tornado watch.

According to the Mariners, it’s the most postponements due to weather-related issues in club history, breaking the old mark of four set during the 1978 season. No American League team in the last 13 years lost as many games in April as Seattle did in 2007. Trying to reschedule the games can be extremely difficult, especially when traditional doubleheaders have become the exception rather than the rule, and other teams’ scheduling and travel plans need to be considered.

Fortunately, our weather in the Northeast will be fairly quiet and milder through the upcoming weekend, and that's good news for fans in Boston and New York, where the Mets will open their home season at Citi Field. Tomorrow will feature a mix of sun and clouds with a high in the 50s. Saturday will bring partly to mostly sunny skies with highs in the mid 50s, and Sunday will see increasing cloudiness with a high near 60 degrees off a morning low in the low 40s. Let's play some baseball!

Paul

Today Marks Anniversary of Snowiest April Day on Record

Today marks the 29th 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, 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 29 years ago had a mid Winter look and feel, today will be much quieter across southwestern Connecticut. Early sunshine will give way to increasing cloudiness with a high temperature in the low to mid 50s. Some showers are likely from late this evening through tomorrow morning as a weak system crosses the region. No major storms are in sight ... at least nothing like the one we experienced 29 years ago today.

Paul

Uneventful March Milder and Drier Than Normal

One year after the wettest March on record, I was somewhat apprehensive about what the third month of the year would bring this time around. Fortunately, we didn't experience any powerful Nor'easters, flooding rains, or damaging winds this March. In fact, as difficult as it may seem to believe, last month was slightly milder and drier than normal. The accompanying photos were sent to me yesterday by viewer Ralph Fato.

 

The average daily temperature last month was 39.7 degrees, just 0.2 degrees above normal. That's somewhat surprising, considering that 12 of the last 13 days of March, including the last nine days, were colder than normal. However, eight of the ten days preceding that stretch were warmer than normal, punctuated by a record 76-degree high temperature on March 18. That certainly skewed the overall average temperature.

Just over three-and-a-half inches (3.61") of precipitation fell last month, well below the 4.15-inch normal for March. There were only nine days with measured precipitation in March, with the greatest 24-hour rainfall happening on March 6 (1.26"). Over an inch-and-a-half of rain (1.51") fell March 6 and 7, and over three-quarters of an inch (0.77") fell on March 10 and 11. The longest dry stretch was six days, stretching from March 25 through March 30.

We measured just 3.2 inches of snow last month, just over an inch below the 4.3-inch normal for the month. An inch-and-a-half of snow was measured March 23, and an inch of snow fell the following day. Although there were more than ten inches of liquid precipitation in March of 2010, there was only one-tenth of an inch of snow.

 

A warm front passed through southwestern Connecticut this morning, bring some showers late last night. This afternoon will become partly sunny, breezy, and milder with high tempertaures climbing well into the 50s, but it will be cooler along the shoreline. Tonight will be mostly cloudy and mild with rain developing late and a low near 50. Tomorrow will feature morning showers and thunderstorms followed by partial clearing with a high near 60.

Paul

April Begins on a Stormy Note

It seems only fitting that April will begin on a stormy note. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Northern Fairfield and New Haven counties from midnight tonight through noon Friday as a coastal storm will bring rain, snow, and wind to the region. Steadier rain will develop tonight, and it will gradually change to snow from North to South. One-to-three inches of snow are possible inland before the storm departs later Friday. It's not an April Fool's Day joke.

I welcome April with some degree of trepidation. Three of the last five years there have been flooding rains across southwestern Connecticut during April. Four 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 the month 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 45 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 15 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. Sunrise on April 1 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 on the first day of the month, but it doesn’t drop below the horizon until 7:49 on April 30. Viewer Christine Polishan sent this photo of a Carolina Wren, seen just outside her window three days ago.

Daylight is increasing at the rate of two to three minutes per day through the end of the 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. However, there won't be much in the way of sunlight these next two days. Fortunately, a dry weekend is expected, but it will be rather windy with daytime highs in the upper 40s to close to 50 degrees.

Paul

Red Flag Warning Issued for Fire Danger

March is normally the wettest month of the year across southwestern Connecticut. In fact, over four inches (4.15") of precipitation can normally be expected this month on average. Thus far, we've measured nearly three-and-a-half inches (3.45") of liquid through the first four weeks of March. However, 12 of the last 16 days have been dry, and that's one of the reasons why a Red Flag Warning has been posted from 11 a.m. to 7 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 North wind will continue to gust over 20 to 25 miles an hour through this afternoon, along with extremely low humidity levels. Dew points are only in the single digits, while the relative humidity is holding close to 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.

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.

Today will be mostly sunny, breezy, and chilly with a high in the low-to-mid 40s. Tonight will be mostly clear and cold with lows in the 20s. Tomorrow will feature a mix of sun and clouds with a high in the mid 40s. The next storm arrives Friday with wet snow changing to rain with daytime highs in the lower 40s. Clearing skies are expected for the weekend with the mercury touching 50 degrees by then.

Paul