CONNECTICUT, USA — With tropical storms like Elsa and Henri and remnants of Fred and Ida, it's no surprise that this summer was the 3rd wettest and tied for the 8th hottest in Connecticut according to data released by the National Weather Service.
June was somewhat rainy but manageable. The state saw a few heavy downpours from thunderstorms that month, but things didn’t kick into gear until July. Tropical Storm Elsa in July was our first taste of tropical wind and rain.
After Elsa came three more tropical systems, each of them with heavy downpours.
We were spared the worst with the remnants from Fred, and while Tropical Storm Henri didn’t deliver destructive wind, it did drop 2 to 5 inches of flooding rainfall across Connecticut. That was simply an appetizer for the excessive rain that Ida brought last week.
How does this stack up to the all-time records when the entire year is taken into account? We're only about an inch behind 1955, and a few inches behind 2008, which is our current rainiest year-to-date.
Even with all that rainfall, we still had our fair share of hot days. Overall, the months of June, July, and August finished up tied for the 8th warmest on record. Our hottest day this summer was June 29, when we set a sweltering record of 99°F.
Here in Connecticut (and across many locations worldwide), summers have been getting hotter. Data from Climate Central shows a 1.4° increase in average summer temperatures in Connecticut since 1970, and while that doesn’t sound like much, the data shows that we’re dealing with more 90° days than any time in at least the past century.
Hopefully, more comfortable air sticks around for us throughout the autumn months!
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