Counting Down Connecticut's Top 10 Storms
Which 10 storms were the worst we endured over the last 100 years? Share your stories below.
By RYAN HANRAHAN
Updated 5:09 PM EST, Tue, May 5, 2009
Here in New England we see it all -- floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards have all left a lasting impact on the state.
NBC Connecticut dug through the archives, dusted off some old tape, and talked to survivors of some of this state's biggest natural disasters to present our list of the 10 worst storms to hit the state in the last century.
Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan and Chief Meteorologist Brad Field looked at all sorts of different factors to determine which storms were the worst and how each storm ranked. Some of the factors include:
- Meteorological Significance. From a scientific perspective which storms were unusual in terms of their power? For example, a category 3 hurricane is a rare event anywhere in the country, but especially rare in Connecticut.
- Scope and Coverage. Which storms affected the most people and the most "area" in the state? Some events, like tornadoes, are rare, unusual, and powerful, but they only affect portions of certain towns. A hurricane, on the other hand, not only impacts the entire state but really impacts the entire region.
- Damage and Loss of Life. Sadly, some of the storms we looked into devastated communities in the state with incredible amounts of property damage and loss of life. Most notably, the Hurricane of 1938 and the Flood of 1955.
- Memorability. Anyone who lived through the blizzard of '78 knows it was "the big one." If you were to look at the actual snowfall records kept by the National Weather Service, however, the storm only ranks as the 7th greatest snowstorm in the last 100 years. For a variety of reasons some storms have a lasting social impact and are a topic of conversation decades later.
In order to narrow down our focus we only included storms that hit in the last 100 years. Certain storms (like the Blizzard of 1888) would have been included had the time period been extended. Two of our storms were in the 1930s, two were in the 50s, two were in the 70s, two were in the 80s, and two were in the 1990s.
Storm #10 - Blizzard of 1996 - January 7th-8th, 1996
Here are the facts:
- 15.8" of snow recorded in Windsor Locks
- 15.0" of snow recorded in Bridgeport
- 49 m.p.h. wind gust in Bridgeport
There are several things that made the blizzard of '96 stand out. The state picked up between 12" and 30" of snow. From border-to-border every town in Connecticut picked up over a foot of snow (which is pretty rare!). The storm also featured quite a bit of wind, with wind gusts to near 50 m.p.h. along the shoreline producing coastal flooding, and near white out conditions . This storm would rank in the top 5 in terms of snowstorms this century, but the most important reason for this storm making our "cut" is the winter in which it occured.
The winter of '95-'96 was cold and it was exceptionally snowy. Bradley International Airport measured a record 115.2" of snow. Along the shoreline, Bridgeport measured a record (and incredible) 76.8" of snow. The storms kept coming, and coming, and coming. It seemed like it would never stop snowing. Some towns had snow depths in excess of 3 feet after the storm passed in one of the worst winters Connecticut residents have ever endured.
Storm #9 - Flood of 1936 - March 21, 1936
Here are the facts:
- Connecticut River at Hartford reached a record level of 37.6 feet on March 21st
- Connecticut River at Hartford crested 21.5 feet above flood stage
- One-fifth of the land in Hartford was flooded
- 14,000 were left homeless in Hartford
A rainy early spring and rapid snowmelt in northern New England lead to the greatest Connecticut River flood in recorded history. The rapid swing in temperature resulted in ice jams restricted the flow of the rivers and tributaries until they eventually burst releasing torrents of water (similar to a dam bursting). The US Weather Bureau estimated that 7-10 inches of rain and melted snow flowed into the Connecticut River within our state, but further north 10 and 20 inches of rain and water equivalent of melted snow wound up in the river across Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
All of this flowed downstream into Connecticut. The river flowed over or just destroyed the levees that protected towns along the river. Portland, Middletown, Hartford, and Glastonbury were just some of the towns decimated by this incredible flood. To this date the river in Hartford has never reached the level of March 21, 1936. Although this event exacted a terrible toll along the Connecticut River, the rest of the state saw very little flooding from this storm. The reason why the flooding was isolated to the Connecticut River is that most of the water flowed right down the river from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Smaller rivers, like the Farmington or Naugatuck Rivers are not affected by rain or snowmelt in northern New England.
For more information:
National Weather Service Report
This is the first in a series of stories counting down the top ten storms in Connecticut history.
Next Story (Storms #8 and #7) -->
First Published: May 2, 2009 7:37 PM EST
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