Over the course of a year, New England may experience just about
every kind of meteorological phenomenon, from blizzards to 100-degree
heat waves.
Rain
A given location in New England gets 20 to 30 thunderstorms annually.
Overall precipitation (rain, snow, sleet) is fairly evenly distributed
throughout the year. Annual amounts range from 32 inches in northern
Vermont to 50 inches in western Massachusetts to a high of 90
inches atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
Lightning
Lightning is an electrical discharge between one part of a cloud
and another, between two clouds, or between a cloud and earth.
In a typical year, lightning strikes New England about 350,000
times, and perhaps ten times as many flashes arc across the sky
without touching the ground.
Snow
Annual snowfall amounts range from 24 inches in southern Connecticut
to more than 120 inches atop Mount Washington. Although inland
and highland areas receive much more snow than the coastal sections,
the coast is more likely to be hit by individual large storms
that dump more than a foot of snow in a day or two.
Record-setting New England Weather
Worst Hurricane: September 21, 1938. 186 mph winds at Blue Hill near Boston. 600 people killed, most from flooding in Connecticut River Valley
and from storm-surge flooding along coasts of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York's Long Island.
Worst Tornado: June 9, 1953. Worcester, Massachusetts. 90 killed.
Highest Temperature: August 2, 1975. 107° F at Chester, Massachusetts.
Lowest Temperature: January 23, 1857. -52° F at Bath, Maine.
Greatest Blizzard: March 11-14, 1888. 50" of snow at Middletown, Connecticut.
Worst Flooding: August 1955. Back-to-back hurricanes Connie and Diane, arriving four days apart, each dumped up to a foot of rain on Connecticut River Valley. 82 dead and $831 million damage.
Worst Ice Storm: November 26-29, 1921. Ice 3" thick on wires in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Highest Wind Ever Recorded on the Planet: April 12, 1934. 231 mph at the summit of Mount Washington.
Tornadoes
On average, nine tornadoes per year touch down in New England,
most within a "tornado alley" that stretches from northern Connecticut
to southeastern New Hampshire. Within this small area, the frequency
of tornadoes per square mile rivals that of the much larger tornado
alley of the central United States.
Ice Storms
When warm air aloft overruns a mass of cold air clinging to the
ground, the result can be rain that falls as liquid but freezes
on contact with everything it touches--grass, trees, roads, and
wires; the resulting ice coating is called glaze. Minor ice storms,
also known as freezing rain, coat the southern New England coast
two to four times a year, while some valleys in the White Mountains
may get freezing rain a dozen or more times.
Sleet
The conditions that create ice storms can also generate sleet.
If the cold air mass near ground level is deep enough, the falling
rain may freeze solid before reaching the ground, resulting in
tiny ice pellets that resemble small hailstones. Sleet, usually
mixed with snow, rain, or freezing rain, occurs 8 to 12 times
a year across New England.
Hurricanes
While a full-strength hurricane (a storm with winds over 73 mph)
strikes New England only about every five years, nearly every
year hurricanes that hit elsewhere bring substantial rains; nearly
one-fourth of New England's late-summer rainfall comes from such
storms. Memorable hurricanes that have hit the region include
the hurricane of 1938, Hurricane Carol in 1954, and Hurricane
Bob in 1991.
PHOTO: Sally Weigand
