WFSB Channel 3Technical Discussion

Technical Discussion

Good Wednesday All! 

We are now 3 weeks into the month of February and so far it has been incredibly mild and dry!  In fact, it is one of the mildest and driest Februarys on record!  Through yesterday, February 21^st, the average temperature is 35.3 degrees at Bradley International Airport.  That is 6.3 degrees above normal!  The warmest Februarys on record were in 1954 and 1998 when the average temperature was 36.2 degrees.  If this February ended right now, there would be a tie for the 4^th warmest February on record (1981 it was also 35.3).  Of course, we still have 8 days to go before the end of the month and there will be a blend of mild days and chilly days.  It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. 

As far as precipitation goes, this would be the driest February on record if the month ended yesterday.  We've only had 0.14" of precipitation at Bradley International through 2/21.  The driest February on record was in 1987 when only 0.45" of precipitation was measured.  There has only been a trace of snow this month, which is 8.8" below normal.  There will be several precipitation events between now and the end of the month and a few of them will occur this week.

Today will be partly sunny, breezy, and mild with highs in the 50s!  The next round of showers will come through tonight.  A few more showers are possible tomorrow as a wave of low pressure ripples along a stalled front to the south of Connecticut.  Highs tomorrow will be in the 40s and lower 50s.  A more significant storm will track directly through New England Thursday night and Friday.  That system should bring a more substantial rainfall to the state.

The rain will end Friday afternoon as the storm moves away to the east of New England and a drier northwesterly flow develops.  Temperatures could easily reach the 50s Friday, but colder air will settle into the state by Friday evening.  Winds will be quite gusty as well.

The last weekend of February will be bright, but it will also be quite chilly.  We expect overnight lows in the 20s and daytime highs in the upper 30s and lower 40s.  Saturday will be quite windy with northwesterly winds gusting to 40 mph.  Winds will settle down quite a bit by Sunday as a ridge of high pressure moves into New England.

At this point, we are forecasting another storm for early next week.  It should bring more rain Monday afternoon and Monday night.  The precipitation should end by Tuesday morning then a return to fair, breezy, and seasonably chilly weather can be expected.

Spring is now less than 1 month away!  Spring officially arrives on Tuesday, March 20^th, at 1:14 in the morning.  That is the time of the Vernal Equinox.  As we march forward toward the beginning of spring, we will also be turning our clocks ahead by 1 hour on Sunday, March 11^th.  That is when Daylight Saving Time will begin.

Have a terrific midweek!

Meteorologist Scot Haney

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January 2012 in Review:

January 2012 went into the record books as a very mild month with close to normal precipitation.  The average temperature at Bradley International came in at 31.6 degrees, far exceeding the normal January average of 26.1 degrees.  While that seems incredibly mild, it is not even close to a record.  The warmest January on record was in 1932 with an average temperature of 37.7 degrees.  Total precipitation this past January was 2.96", which was .27" below normal and total snowfall was 6.8", 5.5" below normal.  What a difference a January can make!  Last January we had 54.3" of snow, which was an all-time record for any month!

December 2011 in Review:

December 2011 was a wet and very mild month with hardly any snowfall!  The average temperature at Bradley International Airport was 37.5 degrees, which is 5.9 degrees above normal.  It was the third warmest December on record!  The warmest December was in 1923 with an average temperature of 38.6 degrees.  The second warmest December was in 2006 with an average temperature of 38.0 degrees.  Only a trace of snow fell at the airport and this tied 1927 and 2006 for the least snowy Decembers on record.  It was a pretty amazing month!  Ever since Winter Storm Alfred in late October, there has only been a trace of snow.  Thus, the total for the season remains 12.3".

The final numbers are in for the month of December 2011!  It was a wet and very mild month with hardly any snowfall!  The average temperature at Bradley International Airport was 37.5 degrees, which is 5.9 degrees above normal.  It was the third warmest December on record!  The warmest December was in 1923 with an average temperature of 38.6 degrees.  The second warmest December was in 2006 with an average temperature of 38.0 degrees.  Only a trace of snow fell at the airport and this tied 1927 and 2006 for the least snowy Decembers on record.  It was a pretty amazing month!  Ever since Winter Storm Alfred in late October, there has only been a trace of snow.  Thus, the total for the season remains 12.3".

One of the big stories of 2011 was the amount of precipitation!  It was by far the wettest year on record with 69.23" of precipitation.  That total includes the 0.17" of rain that fell on the last day of the year.  The previous record was 65.35" in 2008.  Keep in mind, official records date back to 1905 so this year was the wettest year out of the last 106 years! 

Here's a recap of some of the Record Breaking Weather Statistics of 2011: 

One of the big stories of 2011 was the amount of precipitation!  It was by far the wettest year on record with 69.23" of precipitation.  That total includes the 0.17" of rain that fell on the last day of the year.  The previous record was 65.35" in 2008.  Keep in mind, official records date back to 1905 so this year was the wettest year out of the last 106 years! 

We have now seen 7 all-time records broken in 2011 that were directly related to the weather.  January was the snowiest month ever with 54.3" at Bradley International.  Plus, Winter Storm Benedict on January 12th produced 24.0" of snow at Bradley.  It was the biggest single snowstorm on record, plus it was the most snow ever recorded within a 24 hour period. July 22^nd was the hottest day over the last 106 years with 103 degrees at Bradley International and 103 degrees in Bridgeport.  We then had a record October snowstorm!  Storm Alfred dumped 12.3" of snow on Windsor Locks.  Alfred caused a record power outage for the state with 831,000 customers without power.  Autumn (September, October, November) was the warmest on record in Bridgeport with an average temperature of 58.9 degrees.  We also had the all-time wettest year on record with 69.23" of precipitation!  

The Meteorological Autumn (September, October, and November) was also one for the record books.  At Bradley International Airport, the average temperature for the 3 month period was 55.8 degrees, which is 3.0 degrees above normal.  It was a tie for the 4^th warmest autumn on record!  The warmest autumn was in 1931 with an average temperature of 57.7 degrees.  Rainfall over this time period was 19.98", which is 7.84" above normal!  Plus, we had 12.3" of snow from Winter Storm Alfred in late October.  Autumn was the 3^rd wettest on record and the 2^nd snowiest on record, although Storm Alfred was an all-time record snowstorm for the month of October.  For Bridgeport, the average temperature for the season was 58.9 degrees, which is 3.4 degrees above normal.  It was the warmest autumn season on record!  Rainfall was 13.11", which is 2.60" above normal.  Snowfall was 4.0", which is 3.3" above normal.  For Bridgeport, it was the 16^th wettest autumn on record, but the 3^rd snowiest!

For the month of November…the average temperature at Bradley International was 46.4 degrees, which is 4.0 degrees above normal.  November was the 6^th warmest on record!  Total rainfall came in at 3.81", which is only 0.08" below normal.  There was only a trace of snow, which is 2.0" below normal.