Today Marks 126th Anniversary of 'Great White Hurricane'

I've always maintained that the most difficult months to forecast the weather are March and April. The transition from Winter to Spring can bring just about any kind of weather to the region. Although our weather has been relatively quiet over the last two weeks, another storm will bring rain, wind, and some snow to the region later tomorrow.

Did you know that this week also marks the 126th anniversary of arguably the most famous snowstorm in American history? The famous Blizzard of 1888 has been known as The Great White Hurricane due to the heavy amounts of snow, ferocious winds, and prolonged duration. The storm actually lasted from March 11 through March 14, 1888.

Remarkably, the days leading up to the blizzard were unseasonably mild, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s along the East Coast. The storm initially brought torrential rains to the Northeast, but on March 12th the rain changed to heavy snow, temperatures plunged, and a ferocious wind began. The rest, as they say, is history.

The storm continued for the next 36 hours. Sources vary, but the National Weather Service estimated that fifty inches of snow fell in much of Connecticut and Massachusetts and forty inches covered New York and New Jersey. Winds blew up to 48 miles an hour, creating snowdrifts forty to fifty feet high. Snowdrifts of 10 to 13 feet high and over a mile long were reported in Bridgeport, Connecticut!

 
The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine. The photo above shows the depth of the snow in New York City between 5th and 6th Avenues. In fact, much of the telegraph system in New York City was demolished. The telegraph and telephone wires snapped, isolating New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington for days. According to various sources, more than any other event, it was this storm that popularized the practice of burying communication lines instead of placing them above ground. 

In addition, two hundred ships were grounded, and at least one hundred seamen died. Fire stations were immobilized, and property loss from fire alone was estimated at $25 million. Overall, more than 400 deaths were reported. The photo below of the horse-drawn sleigh is courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection. It dramatically illustrates the magnitude of the storm.

The Vernal Equinox is just nine days away, and the battle between Old Man Winter and Mother Nature is just heating up. Winter refuses to lighten its grip, while Spring is eager to take control. That clash has led to many memorable weather events over the years. In fact, one of the worst ice storms in recent memory occurred on March 17, 2007, when it took me almost three hours to get to work. Spring can't some soon enough.

Paul

Columbus Magnet School's Second-Graders Star as TV Weatherkids

The second-graders at Columbus Magnet School in Norwalk enjoyed my Weatherkids program this week. The students enjoyed the experiments, trivia, and being on television. It was a lot of fun.

Paul

"Spring Ahead" to Daylight Saving Time This Sunday Morning

The Winter cold continues this morning with temperatures in the single digits inland and teens along the shoreline. The average temperature this month at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford is just 25.7 degrees, which is a whopping ten degrees below normal. However, we'll enjoy milder temperatures early this weekend as daytime highs climb into the middle 40s Saturday afternoon.

Spring officially begins two weeks from today. Don't forget to "Spring ahead" to Daylight Saving Time this Sunday morning at 2 o'clock. Traditionally, the start of Daylight Saving Time was originally set on the first Sunday in April. However, former President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in August of that year. The Act changed the date for Daylight Saving Time.

Aside from the benefits of brighter evenings and commutes home from work, one of the biggest reasons we change our clocks to Daylight Saving Time is that it saves energy. Energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and when we get up. Bedtime for most of us is late evening through the year. That's when we turn off the lights and TV.

According to the energy commission, in the average home, 25 percent of all the electricity we use is for lighting and small appliances, such as TVs, VCRs and stereos. A good percentage of energy consumed by lighting and appliances occurs in the evening when families are home. By moving the clock ahead one hour, we can cut the amount of electricity we consume each day.

Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that we trim the entire country's electricity usage by about one percent each day with Daylight Saving Time. We also use less electricity because we are home fewer hours during the "longer" days of Spring and Summer. That's certainly welcome news for those of us living in southwestern Connecticut. If you're a parent like I am, you probably find yourself telling your children to turn off lights and any electrical devices they are not using.

Most people plan outdoor activities in the extra daylight hours. When we are not at home, we don't turn on the appliances and lights. A poll done by the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated that Americans liked Daylight Saving Time because "there is more light in the evenings (and they) can do more in the evenings."

So you may be wondering if there are any drawbacks to the switch. For one, it will be darker in the morning. Next Monday, March 10, the sunrise in southwestern Connecticut will happen at 7:12, which is the time the Sun normally rises in early-to-mid December. Unfortunately, it will stay darker longer in the morning, and many high school students will be waiting for the bus in the dark.

Another negative is that the earlier change to DST puts the United States out of sync with the rest of the world for longer than usual, almost certainly disrupting not just computers but the business and travel schedules of workers and travelers. Most internal clocks in computing devices were programmed for the old daylight-time calendar, which Congress set in 1986. And, don't forget, we lose an hour of much-needed sleep, too.

How do you feel about starting Daylight Saving Time nearly a month earlier? As far as energy savings are concerned, I'm all for it. However, I think it will give many of us a false sense of Spring. I prefer the start of DST on the first Sunday of April, even though the Sun won't set until 6:53 Sunday evening.

Paul

Recent History Suggests a Snowy March

Are you a snow-lover? If so, I'm sure you had more than your fill in February. The Nor'easter of February 13 and 14 brought more than a foot of snow to southwestern Connecticut. Nearly three feet (32.1") of snow fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford last month, which is more than four times the normal (7.2") for February.

If recent history is any indication, we may not be done with snow just yet. Local climatologist Ralph Fato opened up the weather record book and found that more than three inches of snow fell in March across southwestern Connecticut more than half the time (58%) over the last 65 years.

In fact, we've had more than three inches of snow in March in each of the last odd-numbered years since 1997, with the lone exception being last year (2.54"). The snowiest March during the stretch was in 2005 when more than a foot-and-a-half (18.5") fell. More than nine inches of snow (9.7") blanketed the region in March of 2009.

Take a look at the following graphic Ralph Fato produced which illustrates local March snowfall from 1949 through 2012. Click the image to enlarge.

The normal snowfall for March at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford is 4.3 inches based on more than 40 years of climatology. The month can offer extremes in weather, though, punctuated by a record high temperature of 84 degrees on March 13, 1990, and The Storm of the Century, which delivered nearly a foot of snow three years to the day later.

The snowiest March on record occurred in 1967 when nearly two feet (21.8") fell, while 1956 (19.4") and 2001 (18.6") had more than a foot-and-a-half. More than a foot of snow fell in both 1958 (12.6") and 1993 (13.7"). In case you're wondering, just a trace of snow fell in March of 2012 and 3.2" were recorded in 2011.

We dodged a snowstorm yesterday, and no major storms are in the forecast over the course of the next week. In fact, temperatures will begin to moderate into the lower 30s tomorrow and into the 40s Friday and Saturday. Daylight Saving Time begins this coming Sunday morning, March 9, and the first day of Spring is just over two weeks away. However, recent history teaches us to not put the snow shovels away just yet.

Paul

Snowy & Cold February Across Region

If February's weather got you down and made you look forward to Spring, there's a good reason why. It was much snowier and colder than normal. In fact, the average temperature at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford was 3.5 degrees below normal, and nearly three feet of snow fell. Unfortunately, March will start on a cold note, but a major snowstorm will pass to the South of the region Monday.

Thirteen of the first 18 days last month were colder-than-normal, including a stretch of four straight days from February 9th through the 12th when the average daily temperature was at least 10 degrees below normal. Seventeen of the 28 days featured below-normal temperatures. There were 11 days with a maximum temperature of 32 degrees or below and 26 days with a minimum temperature of 32 degrees or below.

The average temperature last month was 28.9 degrees. The highest temperature of 49 degrees occurred February 2 (Groundhog Day) and the lowest temperature of seven degrees happened February 11. February 28 was the coldest day of the month with high and low temperatures of 24 and nine degrees, respectively, making the day 18 degrees colder-than-normal.

February's total snowfall of 32.1" was more than four times greater than the 7.2" normal. There were eight days with measured snow, including four in a row from February 13th through the 16th. A two-day snowstorm on February 13th and 14th dumped over a foot of snow (12.2"), while more than a half-foot of snow fell February 3 (6.7") and February 5 (7.5").

The total liquid precipitation for the month (4.20") was nearly one-and-a-half inches above normal (2.79"). The greatest 24-hour precipitation happened February 5 (1.32"). Overall, there were 11 days with at least a trace of precipitation last month. All of the measured precipitation happened over the first 18 days of the month. There was just a trace of precipitation the last 10 days of February.

March will begin on a cold note with daytime temperatures a good 20 degrees below normal through the middle of the week. However, there aren't any major storms in the immediate future. Some flurries are likely later Thursday into early Friday, but the temperature will slowly rebound later this week and finally reach into the 40s by this weekend.

Paul

Beware the Month of March

Today officially marks the last day of meteorological Winter. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Winter ends at the stroke of midnight. There is a difference between meteorological Winter and astronomical Winter. Astronomical Winter began on December 21 when the Sun was the farthest from the Earth in the Northern Hemisphere. Meteorological Winter, on the other hand, is simply the period of the year when the Northern Hemisphere is the coldest. That lasts from December 1 through the end of February.

Tomorrow is the first day of March, and although it will feel good to turn the calendar page, the month is anything but serene. March is a transition month as Winter slowly yields to Spring. As for our weather, just about anything goes during the month. The best example of the unpredictable nature of March weather is illustrated on the 13th of the month. That's the date when the mercury reached 84 degrees in 1990, establishing records for the season, month, and date.

Just three years later, though, on the same date, the so-called Storm of the Century dumped over a foot of snow to the region, making it the second snowiest date on record for March at the time. Winds gusted over 40 miles an hour and wind chills were at or below zero. Most of the eastern third of the nation was affected by the massive storm, which stretched from Maine to Florida, including hurricane force winds, tornadoes, strong thunderstorms, and blizzard conditions.

And, four years ago, on March 13, 2010, we experienced an unforgettable Nor'easter which brought flooding rains, damaging winds, massive power outages, and two local fatalities. Peak wind gusts reached 50 to 60 miles an hour in most communities, resulting in downed trees and power lines. Many local roads were impassable, and rainfall rates of up to one-half inch per hour were reported across southwestern Connecticut.

So, what can we expect in March? Basically, anything and everything. Based on local climatology, the normal average daily temperature climbs eight degrees from 36 to 44. The average high temperature increases from 43 degrees at the start of March to 52 degrees by the last day of the month. The record high temperature is 84 degrees set on March 13, 1990, while the record low is four degrees established on March 19, 1967.

As far as precipitation is concerned, the average monthly total is 4.15 inches, making it the wettest month of the year. The wettest March on record occurred in 2010 when several storms brought 10.19" of rain, breaking the previous mark of 9.40" in 1953. The March 13, 2010, storm delivered 3.31" of rain. You may even recall the second wettest March day on record when 3.59 inches of rain fell on March 2, 2007. The average monthly snowfall is 4.3 inches, but there have been some memorable snowstorms. As late as March 22 nearly a foot of snow (11.1") fell in 1967.

The amount of daylight continues to grow during March, but this year we Spring ahead to Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, March 9, so the evening hours will be much brighter than usual. Sunrise on March 1 happens at 6:27, and by the end of the month it will rise at 6:37, due in so small part to the start of DST. Believe it or not, the Sun sets at 5:41 this evening, but by March 31 it will set at 7:17. Personally, it will feel odd to have brighter evenings so early in the year. Not that I mind, of course.

The Vernal Equinox is less than three weeks away. That's the when the direct rays of the Sun are above the Equator, technically marking "equal day and equal night" over the face of the Earth. We'll enjoy about 12 hours of daylight on the first day of Spring, and the amount of daylight will continue to increase through late June.

Paul