Happy Friday everyone!

The occluded front pushed through very quickly early this morning and as a result we saw the sun much sooner than we had anticipated today! Because of the early arrival of the sunshine we were able to moderate those temperatures quite nicely across the state up into the low and mid 60s! Keep in mind the average high temperature for this date at Windsor Locks is 49 degrees, so we ran a good 10-12 degrees above average. It has also been breezy with our winds coming out of the west to northwest gusting up to 25 mph at times. These winds will diminish as the high pressure moves closer to the area later on Saturday.

The upcoming weekend looks gorgeous, with ample amounts of sunshine and seasonable temperatures. During the day on Saturday we will still be under a dry northwest flow keeping our skies fair and temperatures comfortable. Sunday will feature much of the same. We expect clouds to be on the increase towards dark with showers making their way in for the start of the abbreviated work and school week. Winds will also be noticeable possibly gusting up to 25 mph. The combination of wind and cool temperatures will mean very raw conditions, so bring that coat along Monday morning. After all, it is November!

The forecast for Monday is a little tricky, the forecast models do not seem to want to agree on their solutions. The NAM brings the chance for very scattered showers but the GFS is indicating much more moisture moving into the area resulting in a steadier rainfall. This would mean a much more significant weather event for the state. For now we will put confidence in the GFS and are forecasting light to moderate rain on Monday. Showers may linger into Tuesday morning but we should see some clearing later in the afternoon. Wednesday will be a partly cloudy day with no rain to worry about which is good news for those of you who will be out traveling the nation's airways and interstates.

The outlook for Thanksgiving looks to feature the possibility of the area being affected by a developing coastal low pressure system that will track up the eastern seaboard. As of now it looks like not enough cold air will be in place over the area to support any frozen precipitation, but as we look into Friday that may change. Cold air will work into the area Thursday night thanks to the strong counterclockwise flow around the low pressure system. This could filter enough cold air into the state that we would see some snowflakes flying as the storm tracks into the Canadian Maritimes. This is a system we will continue to watch and update you on as it gets closer.

Enjoy the weekend!

Weather Intern Tim Pandajis along with Chief Meteorologist Bruce DePrest

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Connecticut's Past Weather By The Numbers Month By Month

October 2009
October went into the record books as a cool, wet month. The average temperature at Bradley International Airport was 50.4 degrees, which is 1.5 degrees cooler than normal. We had 4.86" of rain, which is 0.92" above normal. There was also a trace of snow.

September 2009
September went into the record books as a cool, dry month. The average temperature at Bradley International Airport was 62.1 degrees, which is below normal (the 30 year average) by 1.1 degrees. Plus, we only had 1.78" of rain at the airport. A normal September sees 4.13". Thus, we had a deficit for the month of 2.35".

August 2009
The month of August has gone into the record books as a drier than normal month. Total rainfall was 2.85" at Bradley International Airport, compared to the normal August rainfall of 3.98" (thus, we have a deficit of 1.13" for the month). When it comes to 2009, we're still ahead of normal by nearly 3.5".

August was also warmer than normal with an average temperature of 73.2 degrees. A normal August has an average temperature of 71.6 degrees. Thus, this month was 1.6 degrees warmer than normal thanks in large part to a 7 day heat wave (from the 15th through the 21st) and a total of 9 days with a high temperature of at least 90 degrees. The hottest temperature of the month was 94 degrees on the 17th. August stood out like a sore thumb when compared to June and July, which were 2 very wet months without any 90 degree heat.

July 2009
July was even more extreme. It was the 2nd wettest July on record with a total of 11.17" of rain, plus it was 3.5 degrees cooler than normal! That means the meteorological summer, which consists of June, July, and August, was overall much wetter and much cooler than normal.

June 2009
June was wetter than normal by 2.42" with a total of 6.27" and it was cooler than normal by 2.2 degrees.

May 2009
May 2009 was a cooler than normal and drier than normal month. The average temperature at Bradley International was 59.0 degrees, which was 0.9 degrees below normal. The highest temperature was 89 degrees on the 21st and 22nd. The lowest temperature was a record 34 degrees on the 19th. Total rainfall was 3.43”, which was 0.96” below normal. Although May was a dry month, there were 15 days with overcast skies and 20 days with at least some measurable rainfall.

April 2009
April 2009 went into the record books as a mild and drier than normal month. The average temperature at Bradley International Airport was 50.9 degrees, which is exactly 2.0 degrees above normal. The monthly rainfall total was 3.37”, which is 0.49” below normal.

March 2009
March 2009 was not a bad month at all. It was dry with only 2.59” of precipitation at Bradley International Airport. That includes rain plus the water equivalent of any snow and ice. Normal March precipitation is 3.88”, which means we have a deficit for the month of 1.29”. Snowfall was exactly normal with a total of 8.0” and all of it fell on March 1st and 2nd during Winter Storm Demi. The average temperature was 37.6 degrees, which is cooler than normal by only 0.4 degrees. The normal March average temperature is exactly 38.0 degrees.

February 2009
February 2009 was a dry month and it was milder than normal. Total precipitation was only 1.30”. This includes the water equivalent of any snow and ice. Normal precipitation for February is 2.96”. Thus, there was a deficit of 1.66”. Snowfall didn’t amount to much either. 3.9” of snow fell at Bradley International Airport, which was 6.8” below normal. The average temperature was 30.3 degrees, which was 1.5 degrees above normal.

January 2009
January 2009 was a very interesting month. First of all, it went into the record books as a cold month with an average temperature of about 21.3 degrees at Bradley International. That is 4.4 degrees colder than normal! The mercury dipped below zero 4 times this month with the coldest reading of -3 on the 16th and 17th. The mildest temperature was 42 degrees on the 23rd. It seemed like January was a stormy month, but it was actually drier than normal month. How about that! Total precipitation (including snow and ice melted down) was 2.90”, which is 0.94” below normal. Total monthly snowfall was 12.9”, which is 1.4” below normal.

2008
2008 was an amazing year in Northern Connecticut since it was the wettest year on record and records date back more that 100 years! Total precipitation at Bradley International Airport was 65.43”. That includes rain plus the water equivalent of any snow and ice. Normal precipitation for a year is 46.16”. Thus, 2008 was wetter than normal by 19.27”! The previous record was 64.55” in 1972. Other years that had more than 60” of precipitation were 1955 with 62.94”, 1938 with 61.63”, and 1920 with 60.96”.

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FYI…Since 1950 there have been nine years that have had two tornadoes, and now eight years (including '09) with three tornadoes, and four years with four tornadoes. It may be hard to believe but we have had one year (2002) with five tornadoes and in 1973 we had an amazing 8 tornadoes in our state!

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The following is a list of the names of the full moon throughout the year: “Wolf” moon in January, “Snow” moon in February, “Worm” moon in March, “Pink” moon in April, “Flower” moon in May, “Strawberry” moon in June, “Buck” moon in July, “Sturgeon” moon in August, “Corn” moon in September, “Harvest” moon in October, “Beaver” moon in November, “Cold” moon in December.