Driest on Record

By Russell Russ

From June through September this year, three of the four months were below average for rainfall. September was the driest September on record since regular recording began at the weather station in 1932. Many locations in Connecticut were in drought conditions for a good part of the summer into early fall.

How about Norfolk? Over this four-month span Norfolk was actually 2.44 inches above normal for rainfall. Hard to believe, but thanks to July’s record rainfall of 12.76 inches, we were above normal for precipitation. This July was the wettest July on record for us, surpassing the 11.47 inches recorded in July 1996. This July was also the ninth wettest month of any month on record. That is ninth out of 991 months of weather recording. In July in Norfolk, when it rained it poured.

September’s high temperature of 85 degrees was observed on both September 2 and 6. The low temperature of 40 degrees was observed on September 19. The average mean temperature was 60 degrees, 1.2 degrees warmer than average. There were no temperature records set this month. In fact, there were no temperature records set in June, July or August either.

It is highly unlikely that we will see a temperature of 90 degrees or higher for the rest of the year. Norfolk typically hits 90 degrees or above about two to three times a year, but not this year. The highest temperature recorded at the station this year was 89 degrees on July 2. After that it was 86 on July 23 and then 85 on five other dates. No real heat waves. The icebox legend continues.

The rainfall total for September was just 1.16 inches, 3.56 inches below normal. The old record for September was 1.31 inches in 1964. It was the 17th driest month of any month on record here at the weather station. While temperatures were fairly average all summer, we saw some wild swings in rainfall amounts. There were a combined total of 7 thunderstorms in June, August and September. July alone had 11.

Through September this year, the total yearly precipitation amount was 41.81 inches, 2.45 inches above normal. No snowfall or even frost at the weather station so far, but stay tuned over the coming months. Many preliminary reports suggest it might be a cold and snowy winter. Then again, many other reports suggest it might be warmer than normal.

Weather observations are recorded by the Great Mountain Forest Corporation at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2 SW.