Remembering the Nor'easter of Six Years Ago

A powerful Nor'easter hammered the region six years ago today, Sunday, April 15, 2007, causing widespread flooding, damage, and destruction to many homes and businesses across southwestern Connecticut. My basement was a disaster area, and the sight of water pouring into the cellar through the walls was alarming. Many local communities received well over a half-foot of rain in one day, including an incredible 7.50 inches in Weston.

Our viewers became an active part of the News 12 Connecticut weather team with their weather observations, comments, and photos. They always come through for us in major storms, and that day was no exception. Geoff Wood of Darien sent the adjacent photo of his home on Crimmins Road in Darien. "For us, this is the second time we have been flooded out of our house in six weeks," he wrote. Many people shared his pain.



Perhaps no picture better illustrates the destruction of the Nor'easter better than this one. Viewer Donna Dutko sent this photo of "the little pink antique store at the corner of Route 7 and Branchville Station." As you can see, the store collapsed from the force of the water and was partially submerged. The water was almost up to the railroad tracks, too.



Judy Callirgos of Redding sent many photos of the flooding on her street, in her yard, and around her home. "I live on the Saugatuck and my house was truly an island yesterday," she wrote. "I had to create a dam at the end of my driveway to divert the water." Redding also received over a half-foot of rain, leading to flooding problems throughout town.



Cynthia Zizzi of the Cos Cob section of Greenwich sent several photos along upper Valley Road in North Mianus. Cynthia wrote, "Paul, I walk my dog, Dodger, a golden retriever, every day weather permitting, and these are some of my favorite views. The best is the old foundation. I believe it was an old home or could have been part of the woolen mill that burned in 1938."



Sheridan Black of Milford forwarded some photos from Bayview Beach of waves crashing against homes along the shoreline. She wrote, "Last night (Sunday night), I decided to stay the night at my beach house with my aunt and uncle. The whole road was flooded and the water came right up to the deck. The water is usually 30 feet away from the house, and now, if I wanted to, I could stand on the deck and touch it."



Stamford recorded nearly seven inches of rain (6.84"), causing massive flooding of roads and headaches for motorists. Martin Silverman told of "the extreme road conditions at the intersection of High Ridge Road and Wire Mill." Notice the plow attempting to push the standing water off High Ridge Road near the Merritt Parkway. I've heard many stories from motorists who had to find alternate routes or who were stranded on flooded roads during the height of the flooding.



Darien received nearly a half-foot of rain (5.93"). Richard Miller took this photo of Hoyt Street Sunday afternoon, April 15, at 4 o'clock. He jokingly wrote, "I thought I would share this with you before we go for a lap swim." As you can see, driving was dangerous just about everywhere.



New Canaan was another community which received nearly a half-foot of rain (5.40"). John Festo sent us several pictures of Mill Pond overflowing its banks. It almost looks as though the force of the raging water is about to cover the bridge and send it sailing downstream. Also, the banks of the river were already flooded.



The view from Fairfield Beach was wet and windy. Kathy wrote, "This is a view of my backyard. I live one block from Fairfield Beach on Reef Road. My yard is flooded from the rain only, and now we are waiting for high tide to see if we need to evacuate. It was so windy we could lean into the wind, and it held us up." Fairfield was one of the communities which received well over a half-foot of rain (6.55") in one day.



I'm sure you'll never forget the Nor'easter of Sunday, April 15, 2007. I know I won't.

Paul

April Snowstorm 17 Years Ago Today Capped Snowiest Season on Record

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 produced over five feet of snow. After a record high temperature of 81 degrees yesterday, and another mild day ahead, think back 17 years ago when the last snowstorm of the snowiest Winter on record hit southwestern Connecticut. I know I will.

Paul

Today Marks 31st Anniversary of Snowiest April Day on Record

Today marks the 31st 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 31 years ago had a mid-Winter look and feel, today will be much quieter across southwestern Connecticut. Another sunny and windy day is ahead, and the fire danger remains quite high with low humidity, gusty breezes, and extremely dry ground. High temperatures will reach the lower 50s. That's nothing like the weather we experienced 31 years ago today.

Paul

Osborn Hill School's First-Graders Shine as Weekly Weatherkids

I returned to my former elementary school this week and met with the first-graders at Osborn Hill School in Fairfield. The children enjoyed the many weather experiments, trivia, prizes, and being LIVE on television, Wednesday morning, April 3, 2013. It was a lot of fun.



Paul

Red Flag Warning Issued for Connecticut

Normally, this is the wettest time of the year across southwestern Connecticut. However, it has been extremely dry over the last two weeks. Just two of the last 12 days have featured measured rain, amounting to less than a quarter-inch (0.17"). Today will be another dry and windy day. As a result, a Red Flag Warning has been issued for all of Connecticut from 10 a.m. to 8 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 Northwest wind will continue to gust between 20 and 30 miles an hour through this afternoon, along with extremely low humidity levels. Dew points are only in the upper single digits and lower teens this morning, while the relative humidity is less than 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 for this time of the year.

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.

A few showers are possible Friday morning, but there are no major storms in the seven-day forecast. A series of weak disturbances will bring more clouds Sunday through the middle of next week, but only a few showers are expected by Tuesday. Daytime highs will rebound nicely into the 50s by the end of the weekend and into the 60s by the middle of next week.

Paul

April Showers to Kick off New Month

Welcome to April! The major league baseball season opens today for the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets, with both New York teams hosting Opening Day festivities. Although it won't be a perfect Spring day, temperatures will climb into the 50s with a gusty West wind and a few showers this afternoon. The weather could certainly be much worse this time of the year.

I welcome April with some degree of trepidation. Three of the last seven years there have been flooding rains across southwestern Connecticut during April. Six 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 47 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 17 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. Today's sunrise 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 this evening, but it doesn’t drop below the horizon until 7:49 April 30. Daylight is increasing at the rate of two to three minutes per day this 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.

Happy April!

Paul