First there were the temperature records set on Halloween, with Danbury (82) and Windsor Locks (84) breaking their all-time records, both set back in 1946. On Friday, Windsor Locks (84) and Bridgeport (80), which serve as the “official” climate sites in the State of Connecticut, both recorded their warmest days EVER in the month of November. The Bridgeport record in particular is very impressive as it took an extremely unseasonable airmass and a perfect wind direction out of the west to accomplish. Any component of wind off Long Island Sound would have likely cooled the high temps a few degrees.
Then comes the records no one wants to break. We speculated on it last week, but it became official yesterday… October 2024 became the driest month on record in Danbury and the 2nd driest month on record in Bridgeport. The big picture issue, however, is not just how dry October was, but also how dry September was. After record August rainfall in parts of the state, it has now been 8 to 12 weeks since most climate sites have recorded a soaking rain.
With the long range forecast again below normal, drought and fire concerns are very likely to persist. See the latest CPC precipitation outlook below – not what we are looking for!
The abnormally warm and dry conditions have already led to one of the worst brush fire seasons in recent memory across the area. One fire official we work with and forecast for told CT Weather this is the worst fall brush fire season he can remember in 40+ years of service as a firefighter. Gusty winds on Friday resulted in a Red Flag Warning being issued for the area, and several more brush fires broke out. The CT DEEP stated late Friday thy were monitoring more than 100 fires through the state. In Western CT , Roxbury saw a massive blaze that required the assistance of several towns to get under control. In Eastern CT, large fires broke out in Thompson and Sterling.
Via Quiet Corner Alerts – Thompson, CT
We really need rain soon!
