From town fairs to an evening stroll, the weather cooperates as temps drop into and through the 70s after sunset. Overnight, they bottom in the 60s inland, near 70 along the shoreline. It will still be quite muggy so you may need the A/C!
THE 1st WEEKEND OF SEPTEMBER...
Tomorrow, while it starts dry and tranquil, is a *First Alert Weather Day* as a cold front will bring the threat for strong to severe storms from the afternoon into the evening hours. We're specifically focused on the window between 1 and 8pm. During that timeframe, storms that develop could produce frequent lightning, heavy rain, a damaging wind, and perhaps hail --- as they move from west to east across CT. Within the region, storms could rotate leading to the possibility of an isolated tornado. Before the front arrives, expect a muggy day with highs between 80 and 85. Sunday, on the other side of the front, it will be cooler with highs in the upper 60s and lower 70s. However, with the front nearby offshore, as an area of low pressure rides along it, showers will now linger over the 2nd half of the weekend. Clouds will be slow to exit, but partial clearing is possible as we head toward and past sunset.
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NEXT WEEK...
Another sprawling area of high pressure builds overhead, translating to a stretch of dry and bright weather. Anticipate overnight lows 45-50 and afternoon highs 70-75! Thursday, in advance of a cold front, temps could approach 80. For now, it appears the front passes through dry, with only scattered clouds. Behind it for Friday, temps peak in the lower 70s.
August 2025 finished with an average temperature of 69.6°, and impressive 2.9° below normal. This is also noteworthy as it is the first month since November '23 to finish below normal, ending a stretch of 21 consecutive months warmer than normal! A total of 2.45'' fell for the Hartford Area (as measured at Bradley International Airport), 1.76'' below normal.
Meteorological summer ran from 06.01 to 08.31, and it was pretty close to normal for the Hartford Area. The average temperature was 72.2°, just 0.3° above normal. During the season, 12.39'' of rain fell, only 0.27° below normal.
August 20th was a chilly, raw day in Connecticut. In fact, temperatures peaked at unseasonably cool levels, setting a new record for the Hartford Area (63 on 08.20 beat the previous coolest high of 70 from 1922). The record for Bridgeport was 70 set in 1990, which was tied. Rain fell heavily statewide, with totals over 3'' in parts of Litchfield and Fairfield counties.
An area of low pressure moved along a stalled-out front bringing rain, heavy at times, to Connecticut. Totals were in the 2-3'' range along and northwest of I-84, with lesser amounts into southern CT. Some notable totals include 3.26'' in Crystal Lake and 3.17'' in New Hartford.
With 2.58'' of rain measured at Bradley (where the Hartford Area records are kept), 7.81'' of rain fell during the month. This makes July 2025 the 8th wettest July on record (since 1905). The monthly average temperature was 76.3°, a full 2.0° above normal.
The Hartford Area has achieved its 3rd heat wave of 2025, stretching from 07.28 through 07.30. The high temperatures were 91 on 07.28, 96 on 07.29 and 94 on 07.30.
With a high of 96 at Bradley Airport (where records are maintained for the Hartford Area) on Tuesday, 07.29, the 92 year old record from 1933 was tied. For Bridgeport, the record of 96 from 2002 was also tied on Tuesday, 07.29! Bridgeport also tied its record of 95 from 1949 on Wednesday, 07.30.
Temperatures soared into the 90s ahead of a cold front on Friday. When you factor in the high humidity, it felt more like the low 100s across much of the state! The high for the Hartford Area was 95. For Bridgeport, the high was 94, breaking the old record of 93 from 2001. A cold front moving into this hot, humid air mass led to strong and severe thunderstorms. There were multiple trees down across the state, especially through Litchfield and New Haven counties.
The temperature hit 90 at Bradley Airport Tuesday, July 15th, then 93 Wednesday, and 90 Thursday. With 3 consecutive days 90 or higher, we achieved our 2nd heat wave of '25.
Connecticut's 18-weekend streak of precipitation at Bradley International Airport (BDL) came to an end on the weekend of July 5/6. This remarkable stretch began on February 22/23, and was defined by at least a trace of precipitation falling on either a Saturday or a Sunday.
During this extended period, rain was the typical culprit, the wettest weekend day being Saturday, May 31 when 1.45" of rain fell. But it also included a late-season snow event on Saturday, April 12th when 1.5" of snow was recorded at Bradley; a notable contribution to the precipitation record.
A cold front on Thursday, July 3rd sparked severe thunderstorms across Connecticut. Wind gusts were quite strong with a 49 mph gust measured at Bradley International Airport. Many towns reported downed trees, leading to power outages. In fact, over 27,500 people lost power! Unfortunately, a tree fell onto a car in Trumbull and injured one person. The storms also brought hail, particularly in parts of NW and NE CT. Hail covered roadways in Danielson. The largest was golfball size (1.75'' diameter) reported in Sterling, CT.
We need 3 consecutive days 90 or higher to qualify for a heat wave, our 1st one of the year lasted 4 days. Sunday (06.22), at Bradley Airport the temp topped out at 92. Monday's high of 98 set a record in the Hartford Area for June 23rd (prior record was 97 from 1965). Tuesday, the temp reached 90 in the 10a hour (making the heat wave official) then peaked at 99 which also was record-setting (previously 94 from 2013). Tuesday (06.24) also joined the ranks of hottest June days since 1905: 100 has been achieved twice (in 1952 and 1964), previously 99 was only achieved once (on the 29th in 2021, also the last time it was *this* hot!). Wednesday (06.25), the high of 95 tied the 1943 record.
For Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday... Bridgeport hit 93, 94, and 95 - respectively, all setting daily record highs. Wednesday, the high of 97 not only set a new record for June 25th, but also tied June 9th, 2008 for warmest June temperature since 1948!
On June 24th, the heat also broke records for "warmest low" temperature both in the Hartford Area (a 116 year old record) and in Bridgeport. For the 25th, records were again broken for "warmest low" at both locations.
Thursday, 06.05, was our first 90° day of the year (and since August of last year), with a high of 93 at Bradley Airport (where official records are kept for the Hartford Area). For Bridgeport, the high of 87 broke the prior June 5th record by 1° set in 2021.
The nor'easter produced over 3.0'' of rain across SE CT! In the same area, wind gusts eclipsed 30 mph. To add insult to injury, it was unseasonably cool --- statewide --- with highs in the upper 40s and lower 50s (closer to our normal overnight low for this time of year)! And get this, we have tied the over 100 year old May 22nd record of 49 (from 1909) for lowest or 'coolest' high temperature in the Hartford Area! For Bridgeport, the high was 52... breaking the record lowest high of 54 from 2005!
On Saturday, February 15, snow began falling in the afternoon ahead of a dynamic storm system. Snow was moderate to heavy at times, with totals ranging from an inch or two along the shoreline to a widespread 3-6'' inland (Canton was the top spot at 6.0''). As the night went on, milder air aloft allowed for a flip to sleet, then freezing rain. Ice accretion in central Connecticut was fairly impressive by Sunday morning, with totals between 0.25'' and 0.50'' for most of inland CT. Meriden ended up with 0.54'' of accretion! By the afternoon and evening, most communities saw heavy rain. Behind the front, winds began picking up, continuing on Monday. Power outages spiked Sunday into Monday as the strong wind brought down ice-covered branches. Gusts on Presidents' Day Monday topped out between 50 and 60 mph for most! Branford gusted to 60 mph while Willimantic and Haddam Neck gusted to 58 mph. Bradley International recorded a gust of 55 mph. Wind chill values late Monday dropped to near zero.
Winter Storm Brant brought a range of snowfall totals to the state, from a few inches to as much as 6 inches of snow in Stonington. Some may be wondering why less snow fell than what was originally forecast. Well, a layer of warm air aloft, along with some drier air, resulted in snow transitioning to sleet and freezing drizzle shortly after midnight (ahead of initially thought). This drastically cut down the snowfall ratios which in turn cut down on snow totals. The warm air aloft unfortunately wasn't portrayed within our computer modeling.
At 10:22am, a 3.8 magnitude earthquake occurred 6 miles to the southeast of York Harbor, ME. It was felt here in CT, but no damage was reported.
Early Tuesday, a calm wind under a clear sky with snow cover = the coldest temps in almost 2 years! The January 21st low at Bradley Airport (where the official records are maintained for the Hartford Area) was -2; meanwhile, the coldest temperature reported to us was -16 in Colebrook!!
Early Wednesday morning (January 22) temps were colder! As we achieved ideal radiational cooling conditions, temps dropped dramatically! Many locations inland reported lows in the sub-zero range (to -18 in Norfolk). At Bradley Airport, the temp bottomed out at -6. While ~25 degrees below normal, we were no where near the January 22nd record. In fact, yesterday happened to coincide with our all-time coldest temperature on record for the Hartford Area. Back in 1961 the temperature dropped to -26! To note, the last time the Hartford Area had 2 consecutive days with lows below zero was in 2023, when we hit -5 on February 3rd; the next day was colder with a low of -9.
Our 1st named storm of the season is now behind us, leaving anywhere from very little accumulation in SE CT to up to 6 inches inland (Vernon and Glastonbury, the jackpot locations). On Sunday, January 19th, an area of low pressure developed along a cold front southeast of Connecticut. As it moved north along the boundary, rain began and eventually transitioned to snow. While wet and heavy at first, the final snow showers were of a very light, fluffy consistency. Snow was done well before dawn on January 20th. This was the first widespread snow of the season.
For more on our history of naming winter storms, see below.
HISTORY AND CRITERIA FOR NAMING WINTER STORMS...
We are officially releasing our list of Winter Storm names for the '24-'25 season. This year, the theme is birds. Here are the first 5: Albatross, Brant, Cardinal, Dove and Eagle.
WFSB/Channel 3 for over 50 years has been naming winter storms, a tradition we're proud to carry on today. You may remember Blizzard Larry (the Blizzard of '78), the big ice storm of December 1973 named Felix, Storm Alfred in late October of 2011 and Blizzard Charlotte in 2013. Alfred's heavy, wet snow caused a record power outage in Connecticut and Blizzard Charlotte dumped up to 40'' of snow in parts of the state. It all began in 1971 with Channel 3 and the Travelers Weather Service.
Why did we decide to name storms so long ago? Because people easily remember names, especially the ones that have been attached to Connecticut's biggest storms! Occasionally, we get criticized for naming winter storms, but by far most of our viewers love the tradition and find it fun! Certain criteria must be met for a storm to be named. We must be forecasting at least 6'' of snow for most of the state and/or at least ½" of ice accretion that would occur during an ice storm.
The numbers are in, and 2024 was officially the warmest year on record for the Hartford Area. The average temperature of 55.0°, was a whopping 4° above average, and beating the previous record of 53.7° (set in 2012) by an impressive margin! Records go back to 1905. Total precipitation (rain and the liquid equivalent of anything frozen) was a little below average with a total of 45.81''. The Hartford Area averages 47.05''. Snow for the calendar year was below average, too. Only 29.4'' fell, while average is 51.7''
A potent storm system impacted Connecticut on December 11. Rain fell through the day, coming down heavily at times. Areas along and west of I-91 generally saw 1.5-2.0'' of rain, while eastern CT saw 2.0-3.0'' of rain. Some areas in far SE CT eclipsed the 4.0'' mark! Winds, out of the south, gusted 35-45 mph statewide, leading to some power outages. This southerly flow helped transport very warm air to Connecticut. The Hartford Area reached 64°, tying the old record set in 1966! Temperatures statewide were in the upper 50s and lower half of the 60s.
November, while wetter than October and September, was still drier than average at Bradley International (where the Hartford Area records are kept) with 2.30'' of rain. Meanwhile, meteorological fall (09.01 - 11.30) goes down as the driest on record (they go back to 1905) with a total of 3.47'' rain measured. This timeframe is also the driest of any 3-month period, too!
November officially goes down as the warmest on record with an average temperature of 48.3°. This beats the previous record by a tenth of a degree! Earlier in the month we tied the all-time high for November twice when temperatures reached 84° on the 1st and 6th. Meteorological fall came in with an average temperature of 57.5° making it the 2nd warmest on record.
An area of low pressure occluded over the Great Lakes, allowing a second area of low pressure to develop near New Jersey/the Delmarva Peninsula and lift north. This brought a widespread, soaking rain to Connecticut with widespread totals between 1-2''. Also of note: this was the wettest day in over 3 months! Wind gusts ramped up, too, climbing to 30-40 mph inland and 40-45 mph along the shore.
As the storm center moved northwest, colder air wrapped around and some parts of CT saw their first flakes of the season. It was generally elevation dependent; Ridgefield was the jackpot with 2.0'' recorded! Parts of Litchfield and Hartford counties saw totals between 0.5'' and 1.0'', generally on non-paved surfaces.
Veterans Day temperatures reached unseasonably warm levels as the peaked in the mid to upper 60s. In fact, the record high for Bridgeport of 69, set in 2022, was tied. The record high for the Hartford Area of 72 (also set in 2022) stands, with a high of 69.
Tuesday, Election Day, the 11.05 record high was tied (from 2022) as the temperature reached 78 at Bradley Airport (where the records are maintained for the Hartford Area).
Wednesday, the temp peaked at 84. This high not only shattered the 11.06 record of 76 (most recently from 2022)... but also tied the all-time record high for the month, that was set last Friday. Furthermore, it marks the warmest temperature to be recorded this far/late into the year! For comparison the normal high is 55. In Bridgeport, the prior record of 72 (also from 2022) was surpassed by a degree.
The start of a new month has brought continued record warmth. The old record in the Hartford area was 81 set back in 1974, which has fallen as the high for the Hartford Area was an impressive 84 degrees. In fact, this beats the all-time record for entire month of November, which was previously 83 set in 1950! Bridgeport followed a similar pattern. The previous record was 71 set in 2004. Highs on November 1 reached a whopping 81 degrees, setting the daily and monthly high temperature record! Previously, the warmest November day for Bridgeport was 79 in 2022.
HALLOWEEN'S RECORD HEAT...
This Halloween was the hottest on record! The October 31st record for the Hartford Area of 82 from 1946, as expected, was broken with a high of 84. For Bridgeport, the 2004 record of 75 was also surpassed with a high of 77.
RECORD DRY STRETCH...
October '24 for the Hartford Area goes down in the history books as the 3rd driest on record with only 0.52'' of rain (they date back to 1905)! This is after the 3rd driest September, when 0.65'' was measured. In total, that's 1.17'' ...marking the driest 2-month period on record.
OCTOBER 21ST RECORD WARMTH...
The 104-year-old record of 82 degrees for the Hartford Area was well surpassed with a high temperature of 86 at Bradley Airport (where the official records are maintained). Interesting to note... while certainly warm and record setting for October 21st, in the month of October we've actually had record high temps in the 90s. 91 is the highest temp measured, that happened twice ... in 1963 and 1927.
September was warmer and much drier, compared to normal. For the Hartford Area, records go back to 1905 and September '24 will go down tied for 3rd driest with only 0.65'' of rain!
June, July, and August make up meteorological summer. For 2024, meteorological summer will go down with an average temperature of 75.5°, the warmest on record (previously 2020, with an average temperature of 74.5°). Beating out the previous record by a full degree is impressive! Much of this was thanks to warm nights, with many low temperatures in the 70s. Rainfall was close to average with 12.50'' measured at Bradley (where the Hartford Area records are kept).
AUGUST '24...
August was warmer than average for the Hartford Area, but did not crack the top 10 warmest. The average temperature was 73.7°, 1.2° above average. It was wetter than normal, too, with 4.85'' of rain at Bradley. That is a surplus of 0.64'' compared to average.
Training of storms and heavy rain led to catastrophic flooding throughout parts of Fairfield, New Haven, and Litchfield Counties. This is where 5-12'' of rain was received, with locally higher amounts. As of Monday night, the jackpot total was 12.17'' from Newtown (Sandy Hook section). It falls short of the record "24-hour" rain total for the state. The CT record currently is from 1955, when 12.77'' was measured in Burlington (also from August 18-19). As of October 16, 2024, the National Weather Service has deemed that the 24-hour state rainfall record was *not* broken. While two record-breaking amounts were reported in Oxford, one station was too close to trees to be considered accurate while the other station could not have its set-up specifics verified. As such, they did not qualify as official observations.
On August 18, a slow-moving storm system over the Great Lakes approached Connecticut. As the low moved closer, moisture surged into Connecticut. Rain developed early Sunday morning lasting right into the night. The focal point was over SW CT; a whopping 9.98'' of rain fell in Monroe with 9.55'' reported in Middlebury. Catastrophic flooding occurred, wiping out roadways (like Route 34 near the Stevenson Dam) and stranding people in their cars.
Rivers also rose sharply. The Naugatuck and Still Rivers surged into their major flood stages at Beacon Falls and Brookfield respectively. Major flooding also occurred along the Housatonic River at Stevenson Dam. The river crested at 20.51 feet, the 9th highest crest on record at that location (records go back to the 1930s). This is similar to where the river crested in 2011 after Tropical Storm Irene dropped lots of rain across Connecticut.
The remnants of, what was, Hurricane Debby passed off to the west of Connecticut on August 9th.
A Wind Advisory was issued for the entire coastline, as well as Fairfield and Litchfield counties. We saw sustained winds of 20-30mph throughout the day and a measured wind gust of 49mph was felt in Bridgeport. Several trees came down across the state, some of which fell on powerlines, and at the storms peak over 11,000 customers were without power. Also as a result of these persistent winds, large waves of 5-7 feet were seen along coastal communities of Long Island Sound.
Heavy rain was a concern, but total rainfall amounts from the storm were generally up to an inch; a few higher totals in Litchfield County of over 2''.
Also, given that tornadoes are possible with most landfalling tropical systems, Litchfield and Hartford counties were placed under a Tornado Watch as a precaution. No tornado warnings were issued and no tornado was confirmed within Connecticut.
HEAT WAVE #4...
The 4th heat wave of the year started on Thursday (08.01), with a high temperature of 95 at Bradley Int'l Airport (BDL) where the official records are maintained for the Hartford Area. On Friday the high was 94 (6° from the record of 101 set back in 1975). Then on Saturday the high temperature for the day climbed to 93 which was 5° away from the record of 98 set back in 1930.
A microburst occurred near Simsbury just before 2:30 p.m. and resulted in quite a bit of damage throughout Simsbury and East Granby. There were three separate reports of trees on houses (two in Simsbury, one in East Granby). Outages quickly spiked with many other reports of tree and limb damage. Two planes at Simsbury Airport were totaled. One of the planes was lifted into the air and traveled 300 feet!
It's official: July of '24 was the warmest July on record for the Hartford Area! The average temperature for the month is 78.6° ... the prior record was 78.2° from 2019 (records go back to 1905). Part of this was due to warm nights. In fact, 17 days had a low temperature at or above 70°. This ties the old record of 17 days set in 2013.
The 3rd heat wave of the year started Sunday (07.14), with a high temperature of 94 at Bradley Int'l Airport (BDL) where the official records are maintained for the Hartford Area. Monday, the high was 96 (4° from the record for 07.15). Tuesday, the temperature peaked at 96 --- tying the 07.16 record (most recently from 1983). Wednesday (07.17), the temperature reached 93 (the record of 97 from 1999 stands).
The 2nd heat wave of '24 lasted a total of 5 days. Here's a recap of high temps, at Bradley Airport where the official records are maintained for the Greater Hartford Area: Sunday (07.07), 94; Monday (07.08), 94; Tuesday (07.09), 95; Wednesday (07.10), 92; Thursday (07.11), 93.
Beryl officially made landfall Monday morning as a Cat 1 hurricane with 80 mph wind near Matagorda, TX. It's the first July hurricane to make landfall in Texas since Hanna (2020) and the 10th July Texas hurricane landfall on record (since 1851). Beryl is the earliest Cat 5 ever in the Atlantic, beating Hurricane Emily by 2 weeks (July 15, 2005), it's the 2nd Cat 5 in July since records began, the fastest rapid-intensification in June since records began, and the southernmost Cat 4 on record (southernmost Cat 5 is still held by Ivan in 2004).
June was another warm month for the Hartford Area. There were 9 days in June with a high at or above 90° and several nights in the 70s. This means June '24 will go down as the warmest June on record for the Hartford Area with an average temperature of 74.1 degrees! That's 5.2° above average, and beats out the previous warmest June (72.6° in 1976) by a whopping 1.5 degrees. While Bradley International, where the Hartford Area records were kept, received 2.81'' of rain through the entire month, other parts of CT received more during the strong storms at the end of the June.
Our first confirmed tornado of the year also occurred in June. It happened on Friday, June 21, at 4:54 p.m. in Harwinton. It was rated an EF-0 with max winds of 85 mph. The path was 2 miles long and 250 yards wide.
JUNE 30 STORMS...
Connecticut was placed in an Enhanced Risk for severe weather by the Storm Prediction Center on the morning of June 30 and ultimately an impressive line of severe thunderstorms crossed the state beginning around 1pm. One lone storm that crossed over from the NY/CT border quickly turned into an organized line of storms that traversed the state from NW to SE impacting most towns. Biggest impacts were strong winds and flooding rain, including a confirmed report in New Britain of 3.01'' in just 1 hours time! Several Flash Flood Warnings and Areal Flood Advisories were issued throughout the state and left some cars stranded in flood waters in Meriden and Middletown. Winds gusted to 60mph in Hartford and over 50mph in Tolland, Windham and New London Counties. Windham and Willimantic were hit particularly hard with these strong winds leading to powerlines and a few trees coming down. Several trees also came down blocking roadways in the towns of Danbury, Torrington and West Hartford knocking out power to around 16,000 customers during the storm's peak. The storms cleared the shoreline by 7pm.
JUNE 26 STORMS...
A line of severe-warned storms crossed Connecticut on June 26. Storms began moving into western CT around 9 p.m., exiting into Rhode Island around 11:30 p.m. There were some very impressive gusts with these storms -- Bradley gusted to 77 mph, while a trained spotter in Danielson recorded a gust to 75 mph. Many homes lost power and towns across CT reported trees and branches down.
HEAT WAVE #1...
Here's a breakdown of our June heat wave: Monday (June 17th) the high for Hartford Area was 90... not record-breaking, but the 1st day of the heat wave. The Tuesday (June 18th) record high of 95 from 1994 was tied. The Wednesday (June 19th) record of 95 from 1995 was surpassed by 2 degrees. Then Thursday (the 20th), the record of 97 from 2012 was broken by 1 degree. For Friday (the 21st) the record of 96 from 2012 was not reached. On Saturday (the 22nd) the high temperature in the Hartford area reached 88, effectively ending the 5-day heat wave, meaning the record for the longest June heatwave of 6 days in June of 1957 still stands. As a point of interest, we have not seen 100 or higher in June since 1964, and it's only happened twice since records have been kept dating back to 1905!