Lightning Storm over Groton, Photo by
Tim CookAfter three days of oppressive heat, with heat indexes hitting 121°F on Wednesday, a line of powerful thunderstorms rolled through South-Eastern Connecticut last night. With the extreme heat and humidity there was immense energy available for the storm, and it used it! Winds locally only gusted into the mid 20mph range but winds were reported in the region at gusts above 60mph. From the number of tree limbs down, I would say we got a dose of that wind as well. Edit: On the way to work today had to detour twice — adding 3 extra miles to the commute — because the roads were closed with large trees across them and work crews working hard to clear the way. I’d say the winds were definitely gusting well above the 28mph recorded officially in Groton.
The lightning from the storm put on quite a show, with many powerful bolts of ground to cloud lighting up the sky almost constantly during the height of the storm. Fortunately the storm also brought strong rains which have cooled the region off…right now it is only 73 °F, yesterday at 10am it was already 86 °F.
Of course with a storm like that the power circuits were battered, especially after the heat had done it’s damage. We were fortunate losing power only for 3–4 hours. Some areas are out in Mystic still. I met one of the managers of the Power company’s crisis center on her way home, she was wrung out from a long night trying to stay on top of the power failures across the state.
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Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Just in case we thought the 20th was the first day of Spring, old man winter stepped in to let us know he wasn’t gone quite yet. The Vernal Equinox may have been on the 20th, but it certainly isn’t spring yet. Around 4:45pm it started snowing yet again. The forcast is for the snow to continue overnight with 3–6″ of accumulation by morning. More snow is expected tomorrow, but with little to no measurable accumulation. Just when I finally cleared the last of the glacier from our new parking spot — oh well.
Looks like Johann and I may get the chance to play a round of snow-baseball tomorrow.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Winter’s not through with us yet!
Snow started falling lightly around 4:30pm. Just a very light dusting.
Looked out the window at 6:30 and it was coming down at a rate of 1–2″ per hour. It still hasn’t let up. The foreasts are conflicting. Anything from 4–6″ by morning to 12–18″ by morning depends on who you believe. Considering the way it’s coming down though I think we’re in for the bigger amount. Continued forecasts are also mixed, although all seem to agree that we have continued chance of snow through Thursday morning.
Johann has been shouting “Three feet of snow! Three feet of snow!” of course his big plan is to get snowed in and then build snow tunnels to the toy store, the yarn store and the park.
Update: 3/1 07:30am
Looks like we got about 5–6″ last night, but guess what…here it comes again! Got to love these Nor’Easters. This band of snow they are predicting another 2–3″ for Groton and Mystic.
…Not Today!
The winds are finally starting to calm. 10–15mph constant with gusts to 30–35mph. Still snowing a small bit, more like a dusting. Looks like we got 15–18" total, but it’s hard to tell for sure because of the amazing drifts. A few look to be 4' or more. I took 3 measurements in “drift free” areas–15", 17", and 18".
The storms hit along with the astronomical high tide, the storm wind created a surge on top of that so the high tide was 5' above normal. It looks like the Art Center Parking lot and a few other areas got some flooding. Of course considering the temperatures those areas froze solid as the tide receeded.
Hopefully the winds will continue to calm (so the wind chill temperatures are not below 0ºF) and we will be able to squeak out soon for some good time playing before evening….but if not, this snow will be around for a while.
Update: The winds did calm (although now they’re literally howling again) and we did get out for some fun and pictures–including the one you now see here. More to follow…
Well, there’s about a foot of snow and more on the way! The bad part is the wind though. It’s staying strong at 25–35mph with gusts above 50!
From WeatherUnderground:
“Snow this morning…possibly heavy at times. Snow tapering off and ending by late afternoon. Visibility one quarter mile or less at times in blowing and drifting snow. Total snow accumulation 1 to 2 feet. Very windy with highs around 25. North winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 55 mph. Wind chill values as low as 5 below.”
I don’t think we’ll be going out for my birthday dinner! For that matter I don’t think anyone around here will be going out much today with those winds! Sure is pretty though. There are a few more pictures in my flickr gallery. I’ll add more (locally) later today.
