If you love warm weather, living along the shoreline can be frustrating in the end of winter and beginning of spring. The reason? Long Island Sound's cold water.
Today the mercury climbed to 65F at Bradley Airport - just shy of the daily record of 68F set back in 1990. Along the shoreline temperatures were stuck in the 40s for the better part of the day with a southerly wind blowing right in off the Sound.
Cooler temperatures are fine when the sun is out but today was grey and foggy at the beaches. Warmer air blowing over the cold Long Island Sound and Atlantic Ocean resulted in a persistent but shallow layer of stratus clouds that got about as far north as Wallingford and Middletown.
This is known as "advection fog" and it isn't terribly unusual for coastal Connecticut. Several warm and sunny spring days are ruined every year around New Haven as this fog rolls in. Another way to look at this is through the atmospheric temperature profile.
This sounding from New Haven at 8 a.m. this morning shows how temperatures change with height. About 1,500 feet above the ground temperatures were in the mid-50s while temperatures near the surface were in the mid-40s. This temperature inversion allows low clouds and moisture to be trapped and can result in clouds and thick fog like we had today. Across inland Connecticut the inversion was mixed out resulting in almost complete sunshine and warm temperatures.
Local
Today's cooler temperature and fog along the Sound was actually well forecast. Our computer models have improved immensely over the years and generally do a good job sniffing out foggy days like this. If you're in New Haven or Branford or Old Saybrook and want some sunshine - drive north for about 15 miles and you'll have plenty of it.
