From drought to record rainfall

We had been in the midst of a drought after a dry spring season, but that ended quickly, didn't it? Bear in mind when I say "spring" I am referring to meteorological spring which runs from March 1 through May 31, and if you were living near the Bridgeport area it was the fifth driest spring on record out of 49 years of observations.

Take a look at this cool graphic provided by the National Weather Service in Upton, New York of local climate stations. This was through only June 13!

It was right after this daunting anomalous low had passed through the area to add to the total.

We have had several rain events since then, but I don't think we can touch Bridgeport's insanely high monthly record.  As of June 18, with more rain to come today, the "Bridgeport" station in Stratford's Sikorsky Airport has received 8.62 inches of rain in June with probably more to come even today. The Hartford area station at Bradley Airport is extraordinarily close to the shore at 8.63 inches, a strong 5.88 inches above normal. While we can't be sure what will happen beyond a couple of weeks with any sort of certainty in terms of actualized weather I can be sure it will be a strong year for insects unless we immediately go back into drought and extreme heat dries us out for a prolonged period.


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician