Extremely Rare Snowstorm Clobbered New England on This Date in 1977

One glance at our weather this morning, and it's hard to believe that a snowstorm hit much of New England on this date 36 years ago. Our daybreak weather this morning was foggy, humid, and quite mild with temperatures in the mid 50s. You'll need to keep the umbrella handy today with more showers and a possible thunderstorm in the forecast.

However, it was quite a different story around these parts Monday, May 9, 1977. A storm system brought snow and record-cold temperatures to much of New England. In fact, at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, a trace of snow fell, and the temperature dropped to 37 degrees that morning, establishing a record low for this date. Other than a trace of snow which was reported May 27, 2010, it's the latest Spring day on which any snow has ever fallen in southwestern Connecticut.

The storm was quite shocking for this time of the year. Consider the normal high temperature for May 9 is 65 degrees, and the normal low temperature is 48. Snow in southwestern Connecticut is almost unheard of seven weeks after the Vernal Equinox. The coldest temperature ever recorded this month was 31 degrees on March 10, 1966.

According to the Naugatuck Daily News, "A Spring storm dumped several inches of snow on some parts of Berkshire County in Massachusetts. The area hardest hit by the storm was Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where police reported 10 inches of snow on the ground. Similar amounts were reported in parts of Vermont. Great Barrington police said there 'were about 100 trees down, wires are down, and we've got reports of accidents we can't get to.'"

Residents in the northwestern Connecticut rural communities of Goshen and Cornwall reported unofficial snow depths of up to five inches. The snow began to fall heavily in the Hartford area at the height of the commuter rush, slowing traffic considerably on most roads. The National Weather Service said a deepening area of low pressure over Connecticut produced a variety of weather conditions across Western Connecticut.

I consider myself a local weather history buff, but I honestly don't remember this storm. Special thanks to viewer Ralph Fato for recalling it and bringing it to my attention. It certainly had to be memorable for those who had to dig out of nearly a half-foot of snow in the northwestern corner of the state. I'm sure they were wearing their Winter coats, too, with the mercury plunging into the 30s.

Paul

Spring Cherry Blossoms in Stamford

Hilkka Schulz of Stamford wrote, "It is cherry blossom time here in Stamford. (The) weather has been just gorgeous. Rain will be nice, too!" These are great photos.

Paul

Celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Day & Week

Each week when I visit a different school across southwestern Connecticut, I'm always impressed with the commitment and dedication of our teachers to their craft and their students. Clearly, they have a passion for what they do, and it shows through their creativity and energy. Almost always they are smiling, and they love their profession.

The demands and challenges teachers face today are much different than when I left the classroom nearly 20 years ago. I taught from 1985 to 1995, long before the widespread use of modern-day technology, which has become an integral part of the educational experience. Educators are constantly improving their curricula, and many attend classes and seminars during the Summer months to learn new methods of instruction and classroom management.

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day, and this week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. According to the teacher appreciation Web site, "Teaching is possibly one of the most vocational jobs. It is simply impossible to teach if you don’t like that activity, or if you don’t care for your students. Care, that’s the word. But, how often do we, the rest of us, care for our current or former teachers? How often do we show our teacher appreciation? How often do we thank them for their care, efforts and help?

A teacher’s highest reward is feeling the true appreciation and gratitude of his or her current or former students. I know, because I've received letters and phone calls from former students of mine. I can't tell you how rewarding it is to hear from a student I taught 25, 20, or even 15 years ago telling me how much they learned and enjoyed my classes. I still enjoy teaching today. Here are some photos from recent visits to area schools. Yes, teaching is still very much in my blood, and I love working with children.

If you have children in the school system, I'm sure you're grateful for the work of our teachers. Even if you don't have any school-aged children, I'm sure you're aware of the work of our dedicated educators. They deserve our support, and I applaud them. I'll be sure to thank both of my sons' teachers this week.

Thank you, teachers.

Paul

Journal Wins 2013 Communicator Award of Distinction

I won the 2013 Communicator Award of Distinction and a silver statuette for my Local Weather Journal for Southwestern Connecticut. The Communicator Awards, founded nearly two decades ago, is the leading international awards program and receives over 6,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.

My local weather journal, which was originally created six years ago, covers a wide range of topics, including local climatology, the effects of weather on mood and sports, in-depth summaries of local storms, weather history, astronomy, monthly weather previews and summaries, and photos and videos from viewers. New blog entries are published two-to-three times a week.

The Communicator Award continues an impressive ten-year stretch, which includes two Communicator awards (2012 & 2013), a prestigious New York Emmy award (2007), four Emmy nominations (New England, 2005; New York, 2007, 2008, and 2010), four Connecticut Associated Press Broadcasters' Association awards for Best Weathercast (2006, 2008, 2009, and 2012), and two Associated Press honorable mentions (2004 and 2011).

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms. IAVA members include executives from organizations such as Airtype Studio, Big Spaceship, Conde Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, Fry Hammond Barr, Lockheed Martin, MTV Networks, Pitney Bowes, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Time, Inc, Victoria's Secret, Wired, and Yahoo!

Winning entries for the Communicator Awards are selected by the IAVA to uphold a commitment to fairness and merit-based achievement. This ensures each entry is afforded an equal chance of winning an award as all entries are judged to evaluate distinction in creative work. In determining Excellence and Distinction Winners, entries are judged based on a standard of excellence in marketing and communications. Judging is based purely on quality of craft.

Paul

Third Driest April on Record

It's official. April's total rainfall of just over one inch (1.09")  was the third driest on record at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. In fact, the inch-plus of rain was well below the 4.12" normal for the month. Just one-hundredth of an inch of rain fell over the last ten days last month, and only three of the last 17 days of April featured measured rain. Six of the 30 days (20%) had measured rain, with the greatest 24-hour rainfall of 0.55" on April 12 & 13.

April was slightly warmer-than-normal with an average temperature of 49.7 degrees. That's less than a half-degree above normal (49.3 degrees). The month started much cooler-than-normal with five of the first seven days featuring below normal temperatures. Twelve of the 30 days (20%) were colder-than-normal, four days featured normal average temperatures, and 14 days were warmer-than-normal.

The following graphic shows the April climate summary for the six regional weather stations. Notice the rainfall amounts for LaGuardia Airport (1.15") and Islip, New York (1.53") were the second driest on record for those two locations. All five stations reported a monthly normal average temperature at or close to normal. Kennedy Airport's average of 51.3 degrees was 0.6 degrees below normal, while Islip's average temperature of 49.1 degrees was 0.6 degrees above normal.

Climatologically, April is the second wettest month of the year across southwestern Connecticut, trailing March (4.15") in average monthly rainfall based on the last 40 years. In addition, April's recent history includes two memorable and record-breaking rainstorms. The wettest single-day precipitation total of 5.33" of rain at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford occurred Sunday, April 23, 2006. One year later, over three inches (3.02") of rain fell Sunday, April 15, 2007.

The dry spell will continue through the upcoming weekend and the start of next week. Only one-hundredth of an inch of rain has been measured at the airport over the last 12 days. If dry conditions continue for much longer, the region will be classified as being in a "drought." The next chance of any rain will happen by the middle of next week, and that doesn't seem too impressive at this point.

Paul

May Brings Brighter & Longer Days

Can you believe today is the first day of May? Where did April go? When the final statistics are tabulated, last month will go down as the third driest April on record with just 1.09" of precipitation. In fact, only one-hundredth of an inch of rain was measured at Sikorsky Memorial Airport over the last 10 days of the month. May will begin in much the same fashion with generally fair weather expected through the upcoming weekend.

The average daily temperature for May jumps from 54 degrees on May 1 to 64 degrees by the end of the month. There have been several days on which the mercury topped 90 degrees, the most notable being 97 degrees on May 20, 1996, which came one month after the last snow of the snowiest season on record, and 94 degrees on May 26, 2010, which was a record for the date. The record low for the month is 31 degrees, set on May 10, 1966. The warmest May on record was in 1991 when the mercury averaged 64.4 degrees.

Can it snow in May? Yes. Believe it or not, there have been two days with at least a trace of snow, including May 27, 1961, which is just over three weeks from the start of Summer! There was also a trace of snow on May 9, 1977. May is the second wettest month of the year, on average, behind March. The normal rainfall for the month is 4.03 inches, based on 40 years of record-keeping. The wettest May happened in 1989 when 9.53″ fell, while the wettest single day rainstorm delivered 3.21″ on May 29, 1968.

The amount of daylight continues to grow each day through the end of the month. There are exactly 14 hours of daylight today when the Sun rises at 5:50 and sets at 7:50. However, by the end of the month, there are just about 15 hours of daylight as the Sun comes up at 5:22 and sets at 8:19. Three weeks later, on the Summer Solstice, the Sun sets at 8:30, which is only 11 minutes later than on the last day of May.

According to weather legend, "Those who bathe in May, will soon be under clay. Those who bathe in June, bathe a bit too soon." The Full Flower Moon happens this Saturday, May 25, at 12:25 a.m. EDT. In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon. Happy May!

Paul