As we come off a cold and dry weekend, you may have noticed that the sun was obscured by clouds all day making today’s actual high of 29 feel colder. The clouds will tend to thicken overnight with a wintry mix of snow and sleet breaking out over the area for the Monday morning commute (deja vu this past Friday am commute) which will quickly change to freezing rain. The ground and surfaces are very cold so some icing conditions will be an issue. The freezing rain may have trouble turning to all rain in many Connecticut valleys as the cold, dense air will be difficult to displace by warmer air above trying to move in from the southwest. Rain and ice will change back to snow briefly Monday evening as cold spills back in. The rest of the week will be dry and colder than normal.

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The quiet corner of Connecticut was greeted by a unfrequented visitor this morning at 9:30. An earthquake was not in the forecast this today. The Weston Observatory at Boston College, part of the New England Seismic Network confirmed that an earthquake occurred in Plainfield with a magnitude of 2.3. Connecticut’s first earthquake for 2015, there were six recorded in 2014. The largest ever to hit Connecticut was in 1971 at East Haddam observed by early settlers that caused widespread damage and even a fissure.

There were many reports of a snow blitz for the northeast this season. Even the Old Farmers Almanac predicted snowfall to be much above normal, especially for southern New England. It hasn’t happened yet and doesn’t look too promising at all for the next few weeks.  The only shovelable snow occurred on Thanksgiving and this past Saturday which became a crusty, soggy pile of slush by Sunday. Keep the fuel stabilizer in the tank because there’s no significant accumulating snow in the foreseeable future. I understand many are itching to cut that first pathway down the driveway and walkway with their new snowblower. For now, just cold and dry conditions with some snow showers to cover the ground sparsely for the next week or so, then a January warmup!

 

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After our wintertime snow to ice to rain event passes through today, there will be a brief lull in the our weather before an Alberta Clipper descends down from central Canada and moves south of us off shore on Tuesday with a brief period of snow to whiten the ground some. This active Clipper will usher in the coldest weather of this winter season. Wednesday and Thursday mornings will touch zero and maximum temperatures struggling to get to the middle teens Wednesday and Thursday. To add insult to this cold outbreak a brisk northwest wind at 15-25 MPH making it feel well below zero at times.

Any snowstorms on the horizon? My next post will have a January snowcast.

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Travel plans the next week in New England? Except for a few showers this Sunday and flurries up north as a modified cold front passes through the area, the weather will be ideal. Partly to mostly skies with highs in the 30’s and low 40’s and lows in 20’s. Not to worry about snowstorms to at least the end of the first week of January. So how’s does the weather look for the rest of the winter? Variable conditions with periods of cold then warm ups with below normal snowfall for now. El Niño will have a say too. Stay tuned.

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Merry Christmas! Waking up this morning to a rumble of thunder, heavy rain reminded me that the Holiday season was very confused. It felt like Easter more than Christmas and why not with a temperature of 57 degrees, more in line with a normal low temperature for June 13th not December 25th. Well…. Reality will check in as the skies clear out and the wind picks up making the outdoors feel more like wintertime but still above normal for the last week of 2015. As the clouds are pushed aside the sun will remain a constant through New Years. Any storms will stay away, but temperatures gradually fall with lows in the teens and highs in the low 30’s next week.

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As of of today there’s only 17% of the United States with snow cover which is an 8 year low for this date. The storm track has had very little cold air support to generate snow this December. So, “Old Farmers Almanac” you’re wrong with your prediction for a thick layer of white covering our landscapes about now. Central and northern Connecticut on average has a 57% chance of a white Christmas, unfortunately not this year. We will have 2 chances in the next week but the weekend event will pass to our south Sunday brushing us with some light precipitation and about Christmas Eve a stronger storm will track to our west with Connecticut in the warmer sector dragging in ocean air producing rain and a gusty southeasterly wind. As we nod off the next several nights your white Christmas will likely be a just a dream.

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Word is out that a costal storm will tracking in our direction early this week. Snow or Rain? As of Sunday evening it looks to be all rain with a chance of snow in western Massachusetts and Vermont for the first few hours than it changes to all rain there too. When it does rain it will come down hard especially Tuesday afternoon and evening with a strong easterly wind making the rain to look  like a horizontal sheet of wet which could make umbrellas useless. This stubborn storm may stick around for a couple days but it won’t have the impact of Tuesdays conditions on Wednesday,  just a shower or two with wind.

Many have asked about our chances of a white Christmas this year and will have a discussion about this subject on my next post soon.

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It has to one the longest sustained winters of cold and wind in recent memory. With the spring solstice just around the corner early Thursday afternoon, one will finally feel the suns warmth on your face just to be fooled again that ‘Ol Man Winter has not lost its grip yet as another surge of very cold arctic air will take up residence along the eastern third of the US once again. Really no end in sight for these arctic invasions penetrating our tired souls right now. And the “S” word is certainly not out of the question next week as the cold settles in and a southern storm makes that once too familiar left turn up the eastern seaboard with eyes on New England. Is snowfall unusual this time of the year? No, not at all! The winter of 1995/1996 had several rounds of heavy snowfall in March into early April. Snowfall totaled 115 inches that season, but the cold was definitely easier to take then. Our weather in March can be truly finicky and unpredictable as the sun migrates much higher in the sky. Yes, it’ s one step forward and three backwards for the time being. Stay tuned.

On my way home I realized that I needed some pet supplies from a nearby shopping center and while I walking through the parking lot bracing myself from the wind and cold a blue and stark white marque from a chain store had a very true message. Yes, it will be five below tomorrow night and will feel like five below tomorrow through the day while this most recent snow event winds itself up and moves out to sea. When did we last have a daytime high temperature of 7 degrees? The forties will be back Monday morning and then back to 7 degrees on your commute home in the evening. I think I see a pattern here.