Connecticut, 2001

Heavy Snow in Connecticut, February 5, 2001

February 5, 2001 · NWS OKX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

On Monday February 5th, a developing low pressure system off the North Carolina coast moved northeast to a position off eastern Long Island by Monday evening. The storm then moved off the New England coast by early Tuesday.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
7

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS OKX wrote it up.

On Monday February 5th, a developing low pressure system off the North Carolina coast moved northeast to a position off eastern Long Island by Monday evening. The storm then moved off the New England coast by early Tuesday. The storm spread bands of heavy wet snow across southern Connecticut by early Monday afternoon. Some rain was mixed in with the snow initially along the immediate coast, but this also changed to snow as colder air was entrained into the storm system during Monday afternoon. Snowfall amounts were kept to a minimum across extreme southeast Connecticut, where milder air from off the Atlantic Ocean kept precipitation mainly in the form of rain until Monday night. The snow then tapered off from west to east by early Tuesday across southern Connecticut. Due to the wet nature of the snow, and the rapid rate at which it fell, numerous power outages resulted from fallen tree limbs which snapped power lines. In addition, the heavy snow caused hazardous travel for the Monday evening commute across most of southern Connecticut, and resulted in numerous traffic accidents. Here are some specific snowfall totals for this snow event:For Fairfield County: 6 inches at Darien, to 19 inches at Danbury.For New Haven County: 10 inches at Branford, to 20 inches at Cheshire.For Middlesex County: 7.3 inches at Old Saybrook, to 9 inches at Haddam.For New London County: 5 inches at Groton, to 13 inches at Colchester.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 5, 12:29 PM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 12:29 PM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
1229 PM EST MON FEB 5 2001

UPDT FORTHCOMING IN NEXT 10 MIN TO UPGRADE TWIN FORMS OF LI TO WS
WRNG.  CHG TO SN JUST ABT ENTIRE AREA XCP RIGHT ALG S SHORE LI AND
THAT SHUD FINISH UP NEXT HR OR SO.  WL BUMP UP AMTS ERN LI TO 4 TO 7
OR SO.  SUM REALLY BIG SNOWFLAKES OUT THERE...ALREADY AN INCH PLUS
HERE AT KOKX...

UPDTD ZFP/RDF/WSW WIBIS ASAP!

F.Y.I.  KOKX SPECIAL UA RUN IN PROGRESS.  T850 ARND -1.0C.  MSG AVBL
ARND 1800Z OR SO.

.OKX...
CT...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES CTZ005>012.

NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES NJZ002>006-011.

NY...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES NYZ067>081.

.MARINE...GLW ALL WATERS...ANZ330-335-350-353-355-338.

REYNOLDS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northern Fairfield

When
February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Fairfield forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.285, -73.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern New Haven

When
February 5, 2:15 PM EST
Where
Northern New Haven forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.443, -72.965 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern New Haven

When
February 5, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Southern New Haven forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.443, -72.965 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Middlesex

When
February 5, 3:15 PM EST
Where
Northern Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.451, -72.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Fairfield

When
February 5, 3:30 PM EST
Where
Southern Fairfield forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.285, -73.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern New London

When
February 5, 4:15 PM EST
Where
Northern New London forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.504, -72.101 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Middlesex

When
February 5, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Southern Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.451, -72.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Connecticut in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, February 2001

Sources

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: 5233507, 5233508, 5233512, 5233509, 5233511, 5233510, 5233513.