Today Marks 30th Anniversary of Snowiest April Day on Record

Today marks the 30th 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 30 years ago had a mid-Winter look and feel, today will be much quieter across southwestern Connecticut. Another sunny and breezy day is ahead, and the fire danger remains quite high with low humidity, gusty breezes, and extremely dry ground. High temperatures will reach the mid-to-upper 50s. That's nothing like the weather we experienced 30 years ago today.

Paul

Clear Skies Afford Great View of April's Full Pink Moon

Our stretch of splendid weather will continue today and through the upcoming Easter weekend under sunny skies and seasonable temperatures. We'll be able to see April's Full Pink Moon later tonight under clear skies. A Freeze Watch is in effect for Southern Fairfield and Southern New Haven counties for late tonight and early tomorrow.

The first Full Moon of Spring, however, is usually designated as the Paschal Full Moon or the Paschal Term. Traditionally, Easter is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. So if the Paschal Moon occurs on a Sunday, Easter is the following Sunday. Following these celestial rules, we know that Easter can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 25.

Although the Moon won't be completely full until 3:19 p.m. EDT tomorrow, it will certainly appear full tonight. How did the Full Pink Moon get its name? The name comes from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the Spring. Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, and the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

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 them names to each recurring Full Moon. The names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There have been some variations of the Moon names but, in general, the same ones were applied throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.



Farmers are encouraged to transplant during a Full Moon, when the lunar flower force is supposedly strong. The moisture content becomes low during the waning phase and less sap is rising in the trees and shrubs, so it’s a good time to do your pruning and attack weeds. According to lunar planting folklore, root plants should go into the ground during a waning Moon. It is also the best time to turn over the soil.

Paul

Spring Colors In Full Bloom

Viewer Hilkka Schulz of Stamford sent the following photos to us. She wrote, "Spring colors are gorgeous. (The) sky is is sunny and blue. (It is) perfect Easter weather. I have pictures from Stamford to prove it. Happy Easter to everyone."

Paul

Raking the Lawn a Rite of Spring

I'm finished procrastinating, and now it's time to get down to business. Every year at about this time I rake my lawn. Yes, I think of every excuse not to get started but, other than a brisk breeze, today should be a good day to take the first step. Today will be sunny, breezy, and slightly milder with daytime high temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s.

Naturally, it takes some preparation. This afternoon I'll go to the hardware store and purchase my supplies. They include durable gloves, lawn bags, a sturdy rake, and batteries. I need the batteries for my transistor radio, which keeps me company outside. Then, I'll survey my lawn by looking for any matted patches in which the grass blades are stuck together. This can be caused by a disease known as ’snow mold.’ New grass may have difficulty penetrating these matted patches. But a light raking will be sufficient to solve this problem.

A good raking cleans up dead grass which would otherwise clog up the soil surface. The ‘natural compost’ value is not all that great, and raking does free the grass plant crowns which keeps them healthier and allows sunlight in which prompts grass to grow earlier. Raking in Spring is more beneficial than Fall, as the organic matter can help protect crowns during Winter. It should certainly be done before you apply any pre-emergent crab grass control.


Fortunately, lawn raking is also a great form of aerobic exercise. Not only does raking involve upper body activity, it also helps to strengthen the back and core muscles and requires moderate walking. According to several Web sites, raking the lawn burns about 280 calories per hour for a 150-pound person. Since I'll spend about five hours raking this weekend, I figure that I will burn about 1,400 calories just by raking the lawn.

According to beginner.gardening.com, “Don’t forget to keep your lawn well watered if Mother Nature doesn’t provide this for you. If you don’t receive timely Spring rains, watering will certainly help.” This week, our dry weather pattern will continue. Other than an isolated shower or sprinkle late tonight, we'll enjoy smooth sailing the rest of this week and Easter weekend. Daytime highs will reach the 50s tomorrow and close to 60 degrees Thursday through Sunday.

Happy raking.

Paul

Record-Breaking March Much Warmer & Drier Than Normal

April started on a wet and cool note with just over a quarter-inch of rain yesterday and a high temperature in the lower 50s. That's a far cry from what we experienced last month. The official weather statistics for March have been tabulated and, not surprisingly, it was, by far, the warmest March on record. In addition, it was one of the driest on record, too, with just a little more than an inch of rain.

The average temperature last month was 47.1 degrees, which is nearly eight degrees above the normal (39.3 degrees) and well above the previous record of 43.0 degrees set in 1979. Incredibly, 28 of the 31 days were warmer than normal, and 14 days were at least 10 degrees above normal. The highest temperature was 71 degrees on March 22 and 23. There were five record high temperatures established last month.

It marked the 13th straight warmer-than-normal month across southwestern Connecticut. That's quite a streak. The last time we had an average monthly temperature below normal happened in February, 2011, at the end of one of the snowiest stretches in recent memory. However, the average temperature that month was less than one degree (0.8) below the normal average of 31.9 degrees.

Last month was extremely dry, too. Just over one inch (1.04") of rain fell during what is normally the wettest month of the year. That's more than three inches below the normal average of 4.05" and slightly more than the driest March on record when just 0.69" fell in 1981. Nearly a foot of rain fell two years ago in March of 2010.

There were only nine days with measured rain last month, including the first three days of March (0.48" combined) and three of the last seven days of the month (0.38" combined). The longest dry spell happened from March 17 through March 24 (eight days) when only a trace of precipitation was recorded. The wettest day of the month was March 3 when over a quarter-inch (0.27") was recorded.

Fairly quiet weather is expected the rest of this week and the upcoming Easter weekend. However, it will be rather windy today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Winds may gust up to 40 miles an hour this afternoon out of the North. It will breezy and cooler Thursday and Friday. The weekend will be mostly sunny and pleasant with daytime highs near 60.

Paul

Old Man Winter to Make April Fool's Cameo a Day Early

Even though Spring officially arrived 10 days ago, Old Man Winter is poised to make a brief cameo appearance late tonight and tomorrow morning. A storm system will pull colder air into the region as wet snow and rain develop after midnight. In fact, there may be a slushy coating on the ground, especially inland, by daybreak tomorrow. It seems Mother Nature has an April Fool's joke up her sleeve one day too soon.

I welcome April with some degree of trepidation. Three of the last six years there have been flooding rains across southwestern Connecticut during April. Five 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 46 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 16 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.

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. April will start on a partly sunny and seasonable note Sunday with a risk of a late-day shower and a high of 52 degrees.

Have a good weekend.

Paul