May 2010
Another Record Setting Warm Month
By Russell Russ
The month’s low temperature of 28 degrees was observed on May 11. The high temperature of 87 degrees was observed on both May 2 and May 26. The average mean temperature this month was 58.8 degrees, 4.2 degrees above the May normal. There were two record high temperatures this month. The high temperature of 84 degrees on May 1 replaced the 81 recorded in 1936 and the high of 87 degrees on May 2 shattered the 80 recorded in 1933. It was Norfolk’s fourth warmest May in the last 79 years. The warmest May on record was in 1991 with an average mean temperature of 59.7.
The total precipitation recorded for the month was 2.89 inches, 1.46 inches below normal. For the 2010 calendar year, through May, the total precipitation amount is 21.84 inches, 0.96 inch above normal. There were six thunderstorms this month, but around here none were severe in nature.
With very light flurries falling on two separate days there was a trace of snowfall this month. The May normal snowfall amount is 0.4 inches. For the calendar year, through May, the total snowfall amount is 53.2 inches, 13.1 inches below normal. A final look at the 2009-10 winter season snowfall amount shows that Norfolk recorded 73.3 inches from October through May. This is 17.9 inches below normal. It is a bit hard to believe, but the last time we saw more than two inches of snowfall was way back on February 27.
May started and ended on the warm side, but we did have a few cool mornings during the second week of the month. There was a hard frost at the weather station and many locations during the early morning of May 11 when some lower elevation locations around town dipped into the mid to upper 20’s. We missed a record low temperature on May 11 by just one degree. The record warm temperatures over the last few months resulted in a much earlier blooming year for many plants. The lilacs, laurel and many others were nearly two weeks ahead of normal.
A very interesting optical phenomenon occurred over the skies of Norfolk on May 17 when a circumhorizontal arc appeared around noontime. A circumhorizontal arc is a huge, multi-colored band running parallel to the horizon with its center beneath the sun. Often only parts of the band are displayed in the high cirrus clouds, but on this day one whole cloud was lit up with this bright coloring. The phenomenon only occurs when the sun is high in the sky and is formed by sunlight entering horizontally-oriented flat hexagon ice crystals through a vertical side face and leaving through the near horizontal bottom face. Where you are located on the Earth determines who can see one. The factors involved in its formation are not all that rare in the Continental U.S., but it still is not a common thing to see. It is the first one I’ve ever seen and because of its size and brightness it startled me when I first saw it. Luckily it lasted for a good half hour and even better, I had my camera with me at the time.
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April 2010
Warmest April on Record
By Russell Russ
The month’s high temperature of 85 degrees was observed on April 7. The low temperature of 31 degrees was observed on April 14. There were two record high temperatures set this month. The high temperature of 72 degrees on April 2 beat the 1934 record of 70 degrees for that date and the high of 85 on April 7 beat the 1991 record of 81 degrees for that date. At the weather station there were only two days at or below 32 degrees. The average mean temperature this month was 49.4 degrees, 6.5 degrees above normal.
It was Norfolk’s warmest April in the last 79 years, as far back as our records go. The second warmest April was 1945 with an average mean temperature of 48.7 degrees. Three of our top four warmest and five of our top ten warmest Aprils have all occurred within the last nine years. Windsor Locks, CT reported it as their warmest April in 105 years.
The total precipitation recorded for the month was 1.94 inches, 2.41 inches below normal. With only two days with light flurries there was no measurable snowfall this month, making it 6.3 inches below normal. It is unusual, but not unheard of, to have no snow during the month of April.
The snowfall total for this winter season, October through April, is now at 73.3 inches, 17.5 inches below normal. For the calendar year the snowfall total of 53.2 inches is 12.7 inches below normal. Our total precipitation of 18.95 inches since January is 2.42 inches above normal. The precipitation has come, but with record warmth in both March and April, it just hasn't come as much in the form of snow.
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March 2010
Third Warmest March on Record
By Russell Russ
The month’s high temperature of 65 degrees was observed on March 19, 20 and 21. It was a record high for March 19, beating the old record of 60 degrees set in 1945. The low temperature of 17 degrees was observed on March 27. The average mean temperature this month was 38.4 degrees, 7.9 degrees above normal. It was Norfolk’s third warmest March in the last 79 years, being surpassed only by 1946 with 40.9 degrees and 1945 with 40.4 degrees. Five of our ten warmest Marches have occurred since 1995. In Albany, NY it was the tenth warmest March in the last 191 years.
The total precipitation recorded for the month was 7.51 inches, 3.02 inches above normal. It was the sixth wettest March in the last 79 years. The wettest March was in 1953 when 10.37 inches were measured. March’s snowfall total was a mere 2.7 inches, 15.7 inches below normal. It was Norfolk’s fifth lowest March snowfall total. The least amount of March snow over the last 79 years came in 1946 when only 0.5 inches fell. The last day with measurable snow on the ground at the station was March 22. It was gone one week earlier than last year. In Albany, NY it was the fifth least snowiest March in the last 126 years.
The snowfall total for this winter season, October through March, is now at 73.3 inches, 11.2 inches below normal. What a difference a month makes. At the end of February we were 4.5 inches above normal. For the first quarter of 2010 we are 6.4 inches below normal for snowfall, but 4.83 inches above normal for total precipitation.
The ice went out on local ponds and lakes about four to five days earlier this year than last year. Tobey Pond went out on March 25 while Wangum Lake went out on March 26. This is earlier than normal, but not all that record breaking. Typically the ice goes out anywhere from the last week of March to the first or second week of April.
Early reports indicate that it was not a particularly good year for maple syrup making in Connecticut. It was a month marked by flooding in many Connecticut locations. Norfolk and Litchfield County did get more rainfall than normal, but we were spared the record setting flooding that hit parts of southern Connecticut.
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February 2010
Finally some snow
By Russell Russ
The month’s low temperature of 5 degrees was observed on February 7. The high temperature of 42 degrees was observed on February 22. The average mean temperature this month was 24.1 degrees, 2.3 degrees above normal. The trend which started back in December of having the average daily high temperatures lower than normal and the average daily low temperatures higher than normal continued through the month of February. This may or may not be something of great importance, but it sure seems to be the norm for this winter. February is typically when we get most of our lowest temperature readings.
The total precipitation recorded for the month was 5.74 inches, 2.12 inches above normal. February’s snowfall total was 35.3 inches, 15.1 inches above normal. It was Norfolk’s ninth highest snowfall total for the month of February in the last 79 years. It was the most snow we’ve seen in a February since the 39.9 inches we got back in 1972. The two late February storms that hit between February 22 and 27 all by themselves exceeded our normal monthly amounts for precipitation and snowfall. There was snow cover on the ground at the station every day this month with depths ranging from 5 to 23 inches.
February gave us our largest snowstorm of the season to date. The storm that hit February 22 to 24 dumped a total of 16.1 inches of snow on Norfolk. The snowfall total for this winter season, October through February, is now at 70.6 inches, 4.5 inches above normal. So far, for the two months of 2010 we are at 50.5 inches of snowfall, 9.3 inches above normal, and 9.50 inches for total precipitation, 1.81 inches above normal.
Snow core measurements were taken several times during the month to determine the amount of water that was sitting on the ground in the form of snow and ice. At the end of the month, after February’s three big storms, we had nearly 5 inches of water equivalent in the nearly 20 inches of snow and ice on the ground. This will become important to forecasters as we approach the spring thaw. It all seems to be pointing towards a big mud season in the coming month or two.
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January 2010
Where's the Snow?
By Russell Russ
The month’s high temperature of 53 degrees was observed on January 25. This tied the 1938 record high temperature for that date. The low temperature of minus 5 degrees was observed on January 30. The average mean temperature this month was 22.0 degrees, 1.2 degrees above the January average.
January was similar to December in that the average daily high temperatures were lower than normal, while the average daily low temperatures were higher than normal. This may or may not be some sort of trend forming, but it is something to watch for the rest of the winter.
The total precipitation recorded for the month was 3.76 inches, 0.31 inches below normal. January’s snowfall total was 15.2 inches, 5.8 inches below normal. There was snow cover on the ground at the station every day this month, with depths ranging from 3 to 9 inches. The snowfall total for this winter season (October through January) is now at 35.3 inches. This is 10.6 inches below normal and 11.8 inches below where we were through January last year.
In the month of January, we did not top the seven-inch snowfall that came during the snowstorm on December 9. It is hard to believe that Norfolk cannot get more than seven inches in one storm, while places like Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. are getting buried in snow. Even southern parts of Connecticut are getting more snow than us.
One of Norfolk’s weather highlights from January was when we received over 2.25 inches of rain during a twelve-hour period on January 25. The warm temperatures and heavy rain caused some minor problems in the region, including a mudslide along Route 44 here in Norfolk.
Even without much snow and a record high temperature, it still felt like winter. By the end of January, after freezing-over around December 19, both Wangum Lake and Tobey Pond were covered with 14 to 16 inches of ice. Temperatures were pretty cold, and we had what seemed like more than our fair share of windy days. There were several days where wind chill temperatures hit minus 10 to minus 20 degrees. On the morning of January 30, one of the weather stations at Great Mountain Forest recorded a wind chill temperature of minus 26 degrees.[Top]
