Hot Temperatures Finally Arrive

Highs yesterday finally reached low 90s officially at Bradley International! Many folks have been waiting for some real "Summer" weather...today makes day number two!
Some of you may remember the weather back in April when the thermometer did register 90s. Much of this Summer has been dominated by a large trough in the east and associated cloudy skies, cool temperatures and plenty of rain.
It will be interesting to see what kind of pattern unfolds late this year as winter approaches!
I actually noticed some leaves changing up in Pittsburg NH this past weekend! Stay tuned! -Gil

Loop of Short Range Sea-level Pressures and Fronts

Loop of Short Range Sea-level Pressures and Fronts

First Snow!

Amounts range from an inch to about 3 inches across the state. It occured from 10PM through about 7AM. Snow fell right sown to the shoreline!

Here is a photo from New Haven's Wooster Square:

Snow Joke...The First Inch?

Here we are on the sixth of December 2008 and the first one inch of snow is a possibility during the next 12 to 16 hours for parts of Connecticut.
NAM and GFS QPF fields are not impressive. GFS....the "wetter" of the two models does have a >.10" swath up through Eastern Connecticut. The question is ....will this precipitation fall as snow down to the immediate shoreline?
As of 5PM Saturday, I am thinking dewpoints are pretty low and this is key for evaporative cooling. They range from 12 @ KOXC to 24 @ KIJD and even a low reading of 17 @ KBDR! The precip will occur during the "cold time" of the day and thicknesses are favorable for -SN.
I think dusting to maybe 2" will cover it. 2" may be a bit tall for this event......I think 1" will be common East of the CT River.
We shall see!

7-2-2008 PVA - NVA anyone?

Finally another update!

Time has really been flying by lately. We have had such an interesting pattern here across the NE United States. Our weather has been influenced by a deep trof for weeks. 500mb temperatures have been chilly since my last posting in May! (June temps actually averaged above normal for most Climo stations in Connecticut!)

I had to post an awesome example of PVA vs NVA. I was taught in Meteorology school back in The United States Marine Corps to make vorticity your friend. Today was a great example of how strong 500mb uvv's can combine with moisture and surface heating to make some big CBs that eventually led to severe thunderstorms.

Here is the modeled vort max for 18 z:

Here is a visible image shortly after the above analysis. Notice the convective clouds with TRW and hail to the east in the PVA area.

West of the axis, skies are sunny to mostly sunny associated with downward motion and NVA. Cool stuff! -Gil

Amazing Weather in a "Fall" Kind of Way!

Wow...we have been experiencing a real fall-like pattern over the past few days. Daily highs struggling for 50s and 60s with afternoon scattered showers. Mount Washington has been getting snow each day. 850MB temperatures have been <0 degrees C over CT for much of this week. As a matter of fact, -28C may occur this Thursday @ 500MB. Prime for afternoon instability showers. Some containing small hail!
High pressure looks to build in for the Holiday Weekend. Fair skies and warmer temperatures are in the forecast! This will be rare as I find holiday weekends are usually a "weather forecast challenge"!

Amazing Weather!

Our weather pattern has been amazing! Daily highs of 60s, 70s and 80s along with clear skies. Today will feature very dry conditions and a gusty breeze. This combination has increased the fire danger to very high. I expect some brush fires this afternoon that will be tough to control.

A large pattern change will try to get underway this weekend. Timing is tough on when we can expect rain drops......it does look much cooler with an onshore flow. I think this cut-off low may wobble around the NE in to early next week providing some much needed rain!