After the most miserable month of January since records have been kept in Connecticut, there appears to be a major shift in the weather pattern for the first part of this month. Since the Christmas Night storm of December 26th, Connecticut has been pounded with one major winter storm after another. On January 12-13, we received over two feet of snow from a single storm, breaking the all-time record for one snowstorm, held since 1905. One week later, another 12-18 inches fell, followed by more snow later in the month. The single-month snowfall record, fell victim to winter's wrath. By month's end, 57 inches of snow had fallen at Bradley International Airport in January, shattering the January record of 43.1 inches, as well as the all-time single-month record (from December, 1945) of 45.3 inches.
As of this writing, 82.6 inches of snow has fallen at Bradley, putting the winter of 2010-2011 in the Top Five of all years since 1905. And to go along with the snow, it has been brutally cold throughout much of the month of January. The month averaged 2.7 degrees colder than normal. Only 12 of the 31 days had highs above the freezing mark. The low for the month was 7 below zero on January 24th. So the snow that has fallen has primarily remained on the ground with almost no melting at all. Many roofs and a significant number of structures (including the bowling alley where my weekly league was housed) collapsed under the weight of all that snow and ice. The only bit of good news was that we did not experience any sort of January thaw that might have caused rapid snowmelt and serious flooding concerns.
But now, there finally appears to be a major change taking place in the weather. Upper level patterns are shifting, keeping the storm track away from the northeast. The long-range outlook for the next 10 days shows no significant snowstorms threatening southern New England. And the strength and volume of cold air in Canada appears to be decreasing, almost as if it has all been drained out. We may actually see temperatures reach the 35-40 degree range later this weekend, which would allow for some slow and steady melting of snow with no threat of flooding.
We appear to have weathered the worst that winter can throw at us. Yes, the snow piles in my neighborhood are still well over six feet tall, but they will slowly begin to shrink. The climatologically coldest part of winter has passed. It won't be long before someone asks, "hot enough for ya?" I can't wait.
