Relatively Quiet May Slightly Warmer & Much Drier Than Normal

The best word to describe last month's weather across southwestern Connecticut is 'uneventful.' The month of May ended on a hot note with a high temperature climbing to 91 degrees last Friday afternoon, which was the warmest reading of the month. Overall, May was slightly warmer than normal with an average temperature of 59.4 degrees. That's just 0.3 degrees above average. Nearly three inches of precipitation fell last month, which was well below the 3.70" normal for May. 

Eleven of the 31 days last month were cooler-than-normal, including five straight days with below average temperatures from May 24 through May 28. There was a stretch of three straight cooler-than-normal days from May 13 through May 15. The average daily temperature for May 25 was 14 degrees below normal, making it the coldest day of the month, climatologically. The coldest temperature was 40 degrees the morning of May 14.

The first six days of May were dry. However, twelve of the next 25 days featured measured rain. There was never more than a half-inch of rain on any one day, though. There were four straight days with measured rain from May 22 through May 25, and four of five wet days from May 8 through May 12. The wettest day of the month happened on May 24 when 0.49" fell. The greatest 24 hour total happened May 23 and 24 with 0.83" of rain.

According to the monthly climatological report from the National Weather Service, there were 15 clear days, 10 partly cloudy days, and six mostly cloudy days in May. There were 12 days with at least one-hundredth of an inch of rain, and eight days with at least a tenth of an inch. The lowest barometric pressure was 29.66" on May 12.

Paul

June Weather Preview

Although June will start in much the same fashion in which May ended, there will be relief from the heat by early next week. A cold front will approach the region late Sunday and push through Monday, bringing showers and thunderstorms. However, cooler and less humid air arrives Tuesday through the end of next week.

So, what can we expected for June? As far as our local weather is concerned, the average high temperature for southwestern Connecticut jumps to 80 degrees by the end of the month, a leap of seven degrees from June 1. The all-time record high for the month is 97 degrees, which was established during the record-breaking heat wave on June 9, 2008.

That unusual late-Spring heat wave five years ago forced early dismissals and closings at area schools. The unseasonably warm air arrived Sunday, June 8, when the mercury reached 90 degrees. The next two days featured daytime high temperatures of 97 and 96 degrees, respectively, capping a most unusually hot stretch of weather for early June.

The mercury also reached 96 degrees two other times (June 19, 1994, and June 26, 1949). Record high temperatures of 95 degrees have been set three times, including back-to-back days of June 16 and 17 of 1957. The warmest June on record happened in 1994 when the average temperature for the month was 71.7 degrees, well above the 68.0 degree normal.

On the flip side, early June can still be gray, damp, and cool. Although the temperature has never fallen below 40 degrees for the month, the record lows for the first half of June are consistently in the lower 40s. The chilliest morning was 41 degrees on June 1, 1967. The “coldest” June on record happened in 1982 when the average temperature was 63.8 degrees, over four degrees colder than normal!

The wettest June on record happened 41 years ago in 1972 when nearly a foot-and-a-half of rain fell (17.7″). That’s well above the 3.57″ norm based on 40 years of climatology. Unbelievably, there was nearly a completely dry June in 1949 when only 0.07″ of rain was recorded. The most rain recorded in one day happened on June 19, 1972 when 6.18″ fell. Nearly five inches (4.79″) fell on June 5, 1982.

Last June featured four days with a high temperature of at least 90 degrees, including a record high of 96 degrees June 21. That followed a high temperature of 92 degrees June 20. The mercury reached 89 degrees June 22, which was just one degree shy of an official heat wave. The last two days of last June had high temperatures of 91 and 92 degrees, respectively. The heat wave was capped with a high of 92 degrees July 1. Last June's average temperature of 69.7 degrees was one degree above normal.

The average temperature is expected to be close to normal over the next two weeks, once the cold front clears the region Monday. Take a look at the forecast temperature graphics for the weeks of May 31 through June 7 and June 8 through June 16. Notice that Connecticut is within the yellow shading, which means the average daily temperature will be between 60 and 70 degrees through the next two weeks.

The length of daylight continues to grow during the month. In fact, by the start of June the sky begins to brighten in the East a little before 4 o’clock in the morning. I can actually hear a few birds chirping when I arrive at the News 12 Connecticut studios shortly after three o’clock in the morning. June features the “longest days” of the year, and by the end of the month the Sun sets at 8:30, the latest ever in southwestern Connecticut. The earliest Sunrise happens at 5:18 from June 13 through June 16.

June features the Full Strawberry Moon. It will be full this Sunday, June 23rd at 7:32 a.m. This name was was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. The relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June, so the Full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!

Happy June.

Paul

Sunrise at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk

The hottest stretch of weather this year will begin today and continue through the upcoming weekend. Daytime highs are expected to soar well into the 80s and possibly 90 degrees or more inland today, tomorrow, and Saturday. The normal high temperature for this time of the year is 72 degrees.

Patrick Clancy took these photos at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk just after sunrise this morning. It was hazy and mild just after 5:30 with temperatures in the middle 60s.

Paul

Full Flower Moon Obscured by Clouds & Rain

The Full Flower Moon takes place early tomorrow morning at 2:25 EDT. However, we won't get to see it. A storm system which brought rain to the region today, will dampen the start of the holiday weekend with more rain tomorrow and cooler-than-normal temperatures through Monday. In fact, the mercury will hold in the 50s tomorrow before slightly rebounding later this weekend. Memorial Day will be the best day of the three-day weekend.

In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. That’s how the Full Moon in May became known as the Flower Moon. Other names include the Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon. Full Moon names date back to Native Americans in what is now the Northern and Eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring Full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred.

A Full Moon rises at about the same time the Sun is setting. Since the length of daylight continues to grow each day through the Summer Solstice, a Full Moon will rise later and set earlier in May and June. In addition, the Full Moon will appear lower in the sky since it won’t be visible nearly as long as during the long Winter nights. That’s because the Full Moon is a lunar phase which occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.

Paul

Chirping Birds Greet Early-Morning Risers

Do you hear the birds chirping in the middle of the night? They are. The birds began chirping shortly after 3 o'clock this morning. Yes, it happens every May. As soon as I leave my house and walk to the car, I hear them. And, because the sound is so foreign at that hour, I always pause to listen a little more carefully. Yes, the birds are chirping their melodious songs in the middle of the night. Although Sunrise is a few hours away, the birds are already in midday form.

Waking up at 2:30 and arriving at work in the middle of the night is a surreal experience, to be sure, but hearing the birds chirping loudly at that hour is nothing short of shocking. Obviously, the days are getting longer, but is that the only reason the birds are up so early in the morning this time of the year? My curiosity got the better of me. I just had to find out.

No doubt you’ve heard the old adage about the early bird catching the worm, but there had to be more to it than that. Our morning director was also curious as to why she heard the birds on her way to work, too. So, she consulted Yahoo Answers for a possible explanation. “The birds chirp and sing to communicate,” it states. “What you may not know is that, with few exceptions, it is the males that are doing all the chirping and singing. They chirp and sing to attract a mate and to announce their territory.”

But why are they chirping in the middle of the night? “Each day, as soon as possible, the males want to make sure that everyone knows that they are alive and well and ready to defend their territory. What is interesting, although it may all sound the same to us, is that there is some evidence suggesting that each bird has its own unique song and other birds know it.”

As for the modern scientific viewpoint, it is devoid of any romantic, religious or aesthetic aspects. It states that the pre-dawn chorus this time of the year signifies the warning signals given by each bird as it announces the re-establishment of its territory for the purpose of courtship, nesting, and food getting. All of these are the fundamental and basic steps to breeding, and the early chorus is just a way to warn other counterparts to keep away from their respective territories.

Now when I hear the birds chirping in the middle of the night, at least I’ll know why. Our weather will be worth chirping about over the next few days. Temperatures will soar into the 70s and close to 80 degrees today once morning clouds give way to developing sunshine. Fair and pleasant weather is expected tomorrow and Saturday. Sunday will bring more clouds, but the weekend will be dry and seasonable.

Paul

Bridgeport Region Finishes Third in Snowfall Departure

If you thought last Winter was brutal, you're right. The February blizzard helped push the season snowfall total at Sikorsky Airport over five feet. According to local climatologist Ralph Fato, that makes the Bridgeport region third among all National Weather Service stations across the lower 48 states in snowfall departure.

According to his research, the city with the greatest snowfall departure from normal is Little Rock, Arkansas. It received 10.6 inches of snow, which is 203% above its 3.5" normal. The runner-up is North Little Rock, Arkansas. Bridgeport finished third with more than double its normal snowfall for the season. In fact, it finished with 133% of its normal average.

Islip, New York, finished in fifth place  with just under four feet of snow. The normal annual snowfall for the Long Island community is just over two feet. The state of Kansas made the Top 20 four times!

Paul