Connecticut Weather
Connecticut is a state located in the Northeastern part of the United States and is a part of the Tri-State New York Metropolitan Area, which includes southern New York State and Northern New Jersey. Connecticut has the highest per capita income in the United States and is the twenty-ninth most populous state in the U.S.
Connecticut's terrain is widely varied, and although mostly hilly and well forested, also features shoreline beaches and urban skylines.
Location, as well as geological and man-made topography creates variable climatic conditions prevailing in specific areas, but Connecticut weather overall is for the most part typical of the weather experienced throughout the northeastern U.S.
Varied elevations in the state have some effect on the severity or lack thereof of Connecticut's climate. Having a mean elevation of some 500 feet, Connecticut's highest point is the 2,300 foot south slope of Mount Frisselli. Connecticut's Long Island Sound, at sea level, is the state's lowest point.
The lowest temperature recorded to date in Connecticut was 32 degrees below zero at Falls Village, on February 16, 1943. The state's highest recorded temperature to date was 105 degrees fahrenheit at Waterebury on July 22, 1926. Connecticut State temperatures can range from winter lows of 16.7 degrees to summer highs of 84.8 degrees. Higher humidity levels mainly in late spring and early fall, are felt at or nearest to waterfront locations which comprise some 12.60 percent of the state.
Connecticut's four distinct seasons are consistent only in the fact that in addition to large temperature swings that often occur daily, there can be considerable diversity of changing weather conditions over short periods of time. Precipitation, however, is mostly evenly distributed throughout the year, although there can be unpredictable month to month variations.
On the average there are 20 to 30 thunderstorms annually, most frequently in summer. Although tornados and hurricanes are infrequent, coastal storms or "northeasters" can pose a serious weather hazard in the state, generating strong winds and heavy rain, and are often responsible for winter's heaviest snow storms. Heavy fog, though only occurring on an average of about 25 days a year, can develop in both coastal and inland sections of the state.
One of Connecticut's worst weather disasters occurred in mid-September of 1938 when a fierce category 5 hurricane raged west from Africa. Reaching the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, the storm had subsided to a category 3, but instead of curving back out to sea as had been expected, the storm suddenly headed due north, accelerating to a forward speed of 70 miles per hour, the fastest known forward speed ever recorded. The storm smashed into New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut, bringing severe flooding caused by the heavy rainfall. Ten to seventeen inches of precipitation resulted in some of the worst flooding ever recorded in the Connecticut River Valley. Fortunately for the state, such occurrences are rare.
