March Monsoons to Continue

A Flood Watch has been issued for all of southwestern Connecticut from tomorrow morning through Friday morning. Two-to-four inches of rain are possible by midday Friday. The heaviest rain will fall late tomorrow through tomorrow night, only aggravating the flooding problems we experienced earlier this week. Unfortunately, there hasn't been enough time for the rivers to recede, which will only make matters worse. Today will be the last dry day before light rain arrives late tonight.

To put things in perspective, a Flood Warning is still in effect for the Housatonic River at the Stevenson Dam. As of last night, the stage was 14.6 feet, more than three feet above the 11-foot flood stage. The river crested at 21.68 feet earlier this week, the fifth-highest crest for the Housatonic in recorded history. The crest was significant because the extremely high water table ultimately produces widespread flooding South to Bridgeport.

Thus far this month, the official rain total at Sikorsky Memorial Airport is 1.51 inches. However, some communities in Northern Fairfield Country reported well over four inches of rain Sunday night into Monday. Last month, well over four inches (4.36") of precipitation fell, nearly an inch-and-a-half above the normal amount for January. You'll recall the wettest March on record was established one year ago when a series of Nor'easters delivered nearly a foot of rain (10.13") for the month.

Viewer Ralph Fato sent several photos to me following Monday's rainstorm. He wrote, "I wish I can do this for a living. I’m grateful being able to share my experience with people thanks to social media. (I've) been doing this since I was 10. We got lucky that some of our three-foot snowpack melted before these rainstorms moved in. Luckily, no water in my basement either. This seemed to be more focused on the rivers overflowing from the deep snow pack up North, then localized flooding."

We'll have just one more day to dry out before light rain develops later tonight. The steadiest and heaviest rain will arrive later tomorrow afternoon through early Friday. At this point, it looks like two-inches-plus will fall across the region, with three-to-four inches likely over Eastern New York and lighter amounts across Eastern Connecticut and Long Island. The rain will taper to showers by midday Friday with daytime high temperatures in the 40s to close to 50 degrees.

Here is the projected rainfall total for the Northeast through Friday. Notice the color-coded legend. The light blue shading indicates two-inches-plus of rain, while the darker blue, just to our West, illustrates three-inches-plus. The darker green over southeastern Connecticut shows where one-plus inches of rain can be expected. It's not a good situation, and serious flooding problems can be expected once again.

Paul

Garden Hose Solves Basement Flooding Problems

Nearly a month's worth of rain fell in the last 24 hours. The heavy rain, melting snow, and mild temperatures caused flooding problems throughout southwestern Connecticut. Most rivers are at or above flood stage, and many low-lying areas are under water this morning. A Flood Warning remains in effect until 1:45 this afternoon for Fairfield and New Haven counties. Generally, two-to-three inches of rain fell across the region, resulting in flooding of a small waterfall in Weston.

My basement is usually a disaster area after heavy rain. My home is located across the street from a lake, and I live in a low-lying area. Further, a brook runs under my home, and that causes the basement to flood when the water table rises. One year ago, during the wettest March on record, I thought my basement wouldn't survive the extreme flooding. My two sump pumps were working overtime, and water was entering the cellar through the floor and walls. It was a losing battle.

However, Kevin, a friend of mine who kept a close eye on the basement while I was at work, decided to investigate while sweeping the water into the sump pumps. Eventually, he found a well-hidden small crack in the floor through which a steady stream of water was flowing into the basement. A couple of days later, after the basement dried out, he decided to take action and attempt to solve the problem. He brought a drill, cement, and a garden hose.

Kevin drilled a hole around the crack in the floor just large enough to insert one end of a garden hose. Next, he mixed cement and filled in the gaps around the nozzle of the hose to secure it in place. Finally, he placed the other end of the hose into one of the two sump pumps. Believe it or not, I haven't had a flooding problem since he placed the hose into the crack. The real test, however, happened last night when heavy rain caused serious problems in flood-prone areas.

Naturally, I had a tough time sleeping last night. The rain was pelting against the house, and I was worried about the basement. When I woke up early this morning, there wasn't a flood! There was a small puddle of water at the base of the stairs, but that was it. I couldn't believe it. The garden hose was working. The water was trickling into the sump pump. Naturally, I'm concerned about the pumps, though, since they will be working overtime the next couple of days. I took these photos this morning.

I'm hoping everything will be okay when I return home from work later this afternoon. Obviously, the sump pumps need power to keep working, and they won't be getting much of a break after last night's monsoon. I am going to call Kevin this afternoon and let him know that his solution is working beautifully. Now, I'm turning my attention to the next storm which will arrive Wednesday night into early Friday with more rain. I don't know how much more the ground can take. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Paul

March Roared Like a Lion Two Years Ago Today

March came roaring in like a lion two years ago today, delivering more than a half-foot of snow across southwestern Connecticut, Monday, March 2, 2009. Adding insult to injury, roads, walkways, and driveways remained extremely icy as temperatures struggled to reach the mid 20s with wind gusts over 20 miles an hour through the next day. It certainly didn't look or feel like Spring was less than three weeks away.

Officially, 7.6 inches of snow fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford two years ago, a record snowfall for the date. Add the 2.1 inches of snow which fell the night before, and that pushed the March snowfall total to 9.7 inches, well above the 4.3-inch normal for the entire month. New Canaan (9.5") and Darien (8.5") also received a healthy blanket of new snow. Take a look at a few of the photos I received from our loyal viewers following the March 2, 2009 snowstorm.

That brought the 2008-09 Winter snow total to 43.1 inches, more than double the 20.4 inch normal through the date. The previous year, just over 20 inches of snow were recorded through the same period. By comparison, this Winter, nearly five feet (59.1") of snow has been measured, while we saw 38 inches through this date last year.

March weather can be especially brutal across southwestern Connecticut. The March 2, 2009 snow ranks fourth on the list of all-time snowiest March days on record at the airport. The Blizzard of 1888 notwithstanding, nearly a foot of snow (11.1") fell on March 22, 1967, and 10.6" of snow blanketed the region during the infamous Storm of the Century on Saturday, March 13, 1993. The third snowiest March day on record happened on March 22, 1956, when 9.8 inches fell.

Perhaps the most memorable March snow event happened on Easter Sunday, March 29, 1970. Over a half-foot of snow fell in the Greater Bridgeport area and, to make matters worse, the mercury plummeted to 16 degrees the following morning at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford and 14 degrees in Norwalk. Fortunately, our weather doesn't include snow and ice over the next seven days. However, it will turn windy and quite cold tonight in the wake of a cold front which will cross the area later this afternoon.

Much colder air is expected tomorrow with a daytime high in the mid-to-upper 20s under mostly sunny skies and a gusty breeze out of the Northwest. Cloudy and dry weather is expected Friday and Saturday before more rain arrives Sunday into Monday. Afternoon high temperatures will climb close to 50 degrees Saturday and Sunday and hold close to 40 by Monday.

Paul

Cold & Wet February in the Books

Welcome to March. The new month will start on a sunny and blustery note with high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 30s by this afternoon. A gusty North wind will subside by late-morning, and a fairly quiet stretch of weather can be expected through the end of the week. The official weather statistics for February have been tabulated, and the month was slightly colder and much wetter than normal.

The average temperature last month was 31.1 degrees, which was nearly one degree below the normal of 31.9 degrees. The warmest temperature was 57 degrees on February 18, while the coldest reading was 11 degrees on the morning of February 4. There were two five-day periods --- February 8 through February 12 and February 20 through February 24 --- during which the average daily temperature was below normal. Overall, 16 of the 28 days last month featured colder than normal temperatures.

Twenty-two days last month featured morning low temperatures below freezing, while just three days delivered daytime high temperatures of 32 degrees or below. There were five days with readings of 50 degrees or warmer, including three consecutive days from February 17 through February 19. Two days --- February 14 and February 28 --- saw the mercury climb to 55 degrees.

Nearly four-and-a-half inches of liquid precipitation fell at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford last month. That was nearly an inch-and-a-half above the normal of 2.92. Nearly five inches (4.7") of snow fell in February, two-and-a-half inches below the 7.2-inch normal for the month. There were 11 days with liquid precipitation, but only three days with measured snow. The greatest 24-hour precipitation was 1.54" during February 24 and 25.

Fortunately, we'll enjoy a few quiet days through the end of the week. A cold front will approach late tomorrow, but not before temperatures rebound well into the 40s Wednesday afternoon. Thursday will be mostly sunny and colder with a high near 30. Friday will bring increasing cloudiness with highs in the 30s. The weekend will be cloudy and milder with scattered showers likely and highs in the mid 40s to close to 50 degrees.

Paul

Five years of archived posts from March 2006 through February 2011 can be viewed by clicking here.