With last year’s late frosts now a distant memory, is extreme heat late this year too? Kind of.
Last year, April 13 was the first day to hit 90°F across weather stations in Hartford, Danbury and Meriden. In the days after, it also hit 90°F at weather stations in Willimantic and Norwich, according to data from nine weather stations across the state.
And 2023 wasn’t an outlier. Connecticut temperatures hit the 90s during April of 2012, 2010, 2009, 2002, 1990 and 1976. Most years, though, it doesn’t arrive until May or June.
Weather stations in Hartford, Bridgeport and Norwich show the daily maximum temperature going back decades. Days during which the maximum temperature reached 90°F and above are marked in red.
Focusing on the last 10 years makes it easier to see that the number of 90°F days can vary from year to year.
Last year, the weather station at Brainard Airport in Hartford detected 14 days where the weather was above 90°F, while a station in Groton detected only one day. Other years were warmer: In 2010, 2016 and 2020, the Hartford station detected 30 days or more above 90°F.
Taking decades of data into account since 1920, the Brainard airport station detected an average of 13 days of 90°F plus weather per year. Since 1948, the Bridgeport station detected a yearly average of seven days with 90°F plus weather.