Happy new year! We will be welcoming 2018 with a very close run on the models. We are right on the fringe right now of a snowstorm for this upcoming Thursday. In fact...the difference of about 100 miles will determine if we get nothing...a glancing blow...or a blizzard that only happens in our area about once every century or so. Right now, I favor choice 'B'- which would still be a major snowstorm for our area on the order of 8-16" (so imagine what choice 'C' is- trust me, you don't want to know). Regardless, the cold remains firmly in place and if you intend to visit Times Square tonight, BUNDLE UP- this will likely be the second coldest ball drop...ever recorded with temperatures in the high single digits. Youch! Stay warm!!! Now for a look back on the incredible, record breaking year that 2017 was for us in Connecticut and across the entire western Atlantic.
January was a month that featured well above average temperatures, and was surprisingly snow free, with the exception of Winter Storm Breanna, which dropped a general 5-8" of snow on the state on the 8th. This continued the recent trend of dry and relatively snow free January's, the third year in a row that one or fewer named storms occurred during the month. Little did we know the winter had just begun.
February was the tale of two months, with two significant snowstorms, but also 70 degree temperatures at the end of the month. For most, the most significant snowstorm of the winter was Blizzard Chris on the 9th, which was followed by Winter Storm Diana just three days later on the 12th. After that though, the temperatures swung in the extreme, with several days in the last two weeks of the month well into the 60s and even reaching the 70s on several occasions, leaving many to believe that winter was over, which proved to be extremely premature.
March was an exceptionally cold month, with temperatures nearly 6 degrees below average! To add insult to injury, March also featured well above average snowfall, with Blizzard Eugene on March 14 delivering 1-2ft of snow to the entire region. There was no true warmup at any time in the month, and at times it made you wonder if spring really was around the corner. In fact, for just the 4th time on record, March was actually colder than February!
April was decent, but not all that unusual. The most notable thing about the month is that the year and a half long drought finally came to an end with substantial rains falling through the month on several different occasions. Temperatures were roughly seasonable in a relatively unremarkable month
May certainly had its' ups (high temperatures in the 90s several times mid-month) and downs (several days with rain falling heavily all day). In the end, however, the most notable weather event of the month was the severe weather outbreak on the 31st, which featured large hail, picturesque shelf clouds, and a tornado warning for Fairfield/Litchfield County. Although no tornado was recorded, it still was quite the evening!
June was a tale of two extremes. The first two weeks were exceptionally cool, including one of the coldest June days on record with highs in the low 50s and lows generally in the low 40s with a few places even in the upper 30s(!) in places on the 6th. The second part, however, featured far more typical weather, with several days of thunderstorms and summery heat and humidity. The precipitation wound up very close to the average.
July was a pretty typical July here in Connecticut, with temperatures primarily fluctuating between 75 and 95, with very few days outside of those parameters. Two heat waves occurred during the month, which is not at all unusual. Severe weather was rather uncommon, though the microburst in Derby on July 13 did cause a fair amount of damage in southwestern New Haven county.
August was not overly noteworthy in Connecticut, with temperatures only slightly below average. The most notable fact regarding the month is that somehow there were only two 90 degree days in Hartford, which is exceptionally difficult to do in August. Precipitation was well below average for the month, coming up at a total of 2.66". Of course, August will be remembered most by the weather world for the disaster that Hurricane Harvey and its' subsequent extreme rains caused in Texas, leading to a long-thought unbreakable record falling, establishing itself as the costliest natural disaster in US history.
September belonged to the hurricanes, although we managed to dodge a few bullets locally. Two category 5 hurricanes formed in the month, marking the first time since 2007 a season has had multiple storms reach the highest intensity. To make matters worse, both of these storms (Irma and Maria) made landfalls at category 4 intensity, clobbering Florida and Puerto Rico. Both of these storms will be remembered for a very long time indeed, and surely will join Harvey on the retired name list. The other notable hurricane, Jose, made a very serious run at our area, even prompting Tropical Storm watches for a brief period before ultimately passing safely to the southeast of Cape Cod. Temperatures locally were far above normal, with an average of 78.4 degrees. The dryness also continued, with a rainfall deficit of over an inch, briefly returning parts of the state to drought conditions. This would be wiped clear, however, in that wild last week of October.
October was an extremely warm month, and it seemed like it would be mainly dry until the two major storms clobbered the region on the 24th and 29th, both dumping upwards of 5" of rain on our area and completely wiping out the drought, and causing an October rainfall total nearly double the average. The warmest October on record for many locations, including both Hartford and Bridgeport, ended with a bang to be sure! Most notably, however, the October 29th curse struck again, with a massive coastal storm with influence from the remnants of Tropical Storm Philippe clobbering the region with winds gusting upwards of hurricane force across the state, doing a great deal of damage and causing nearly 200,000 power outages across the state, in some cases lasting for several days. Definitely one to remember!
November was dryer than normal for sure, but also much, much colder than normal. Overall, BDL finished the month with an average temperature of 42 degrees, which is two degrees below normal. There was 1.04" of precipitation, which is about 2" below normal as well for the month. The most notable part of the time period was the aforementioned cold, especially in the final two weeks of the month, which saw temperatures plunge into the teens at times. Most also experienced their first snow of the 2017-18 winter, although it was by no means substantial, with only a trace falling in Hartford. That would change in a big way for December, however.
Finally, December was the first truly wintry December in quite some time, and boy was it ever. Temperatures were far below average (exactly how far remains to be seen- I'll have final numbers tomorrow), and was extremely snowy as well. At my house in Naugatuck, we recieved 16" of snow for the month, which is only slightly less than half of the average annual snowfall. With more snow possible on Thursday (the current Euro proposes one to one and a half feet), this will only increase, and the pattern for January looks pretty good for snow, with the exception of the week from after Thursday until the following weekend or so (and even then, some snow certainly could fall). To put this in perspective, should 16" fall in the four months where it is realistic (Dec-Mar), we would get 64" of snow on the year, which is about 15" above the average annual snowfall for the region...and is close to an all time top 10 year. In general though, remember that our snowiest month of the year is actually February.
Wishing you a very, very happy 2018! May it bring peace, joy, and wonderful new memories to all the world.
