Connecticut Snowfall: Jan. 23-24, 2016

Snow reached southern Connecticut during the predawn hours on January 23rd. The snow gradually moved inland, dropping the most persistent bands of moderate to heavy snow on an axis from Fairfield County, northeastward into New Haven County and parts of eastern Connecticut. As low pressure slowly moved east to the south of Long Island, precipitation never reached the far northwest corner of the state.

During the peak of the storm, winds consistently gusted to between 30 and 40 mph along the shoreline. No Connecticut stations officially reached blizzard criteria, but near-blizzard conditions affected southwestern Connecticut at times.

Breaks in the precipitation shield across southeastern Connecticut resulted in locally lower amounts of snow, particularly across New London County. Snow quickly came to an end in all areas early on January 24th, ending from west to east across the state.

The Blizzard of 2016 affected a large portion of the United States from the Arklatex region, eastward to the East Coast. The most intense snowfall fell from the Mid-Atlantic states into the New York City metropolitan area. Snowfall totals of 2 to 3 feet were common here, with a few locally higher amounts. All-time single event snowfall records were set at Allentown, Baltimore, Harrisburg and New York City’s JFK Airport. A record daily snow depth was also set at Washington Dulles International Airport. Both Harrisburg and JFK Airport reported 14 straight hours of snowfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour during the height of the storm. JFK Airport observed 30.2 inches of snow in one calendar day on January 23rd.