A deep low pressure system over northern Maine combined with a strong high pressure area centered over South Carolina to produce a "tight pressure gradient" and a period of very powerful and damaging west to northwest winds. Two people were killed and three injured when a large tree was blown down and crushed their car as they travelled along a street in Farmington in Hartford County at about…
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.
A deep low pressure system over northern Maine combined with a strong high pressure area centered over South Carolina to produce a "tight pressure gradient" and a period of very powerful and damaging west to northwest winds. Two people were killed and three injured when a large tree was blown down and crushed their car as they travelled along a street in Farmington in Hartford County at about 2:45 PM. In the city of Hartford, several people narrowly escaped serious injury when a large tree fell and crushed part of the van in which they were riding and which stopped at an intersection. There were scattered reports of property damage as tree limbs and even some trees fell onto homes. A large tree limb broke off the oldest tree in Glastonbury and crashed through the roof of an historic house. A large plate glass window blew out of a store in Enfield. Structural damage was reported to several buildings in Wethersfield. About 120,000 electric utility customers lost power statewide and this was considered the tenth greatest power outage in the state. It was the worst since Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Winds frequently gusted over 50 mph and a peak gust to 66 mph was recorded by a spotter in Wethersfield, while the National Weather Service recorded a peak gust to 63 mph at the Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind, Hartford | 1996-02-25 | 44 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
| High Wind, Hartford | 1996-02-25 | 6 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Connecticut in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, February 1996
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5552404, 5552405, 5552406.