Connecticut, 2006

Heavy Snow in Connecticut, February 12, 2006

February 12, 2006 · NWS OKX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

An area of low pressure developed along the Gulf Coast states on Friday, February 10th, and began moving northeast toward the North Carolina coast during Saturday. The storm rapidly intensified as it moved northeastward just off the New England coast.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
4

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.

An area of low pressure developed along the Gulf Coast states on Friday, February 10th, and began moving northeast toward the North Carolina coast during Saturday. The storm rapidly intensified as it moved northeastward just off the New England coast. Snow spread north across the area on Saturday from early to late afternoon. The snow fell steadily and heavily at times in many areas overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning, until the last band of heavy snow swept east of the area late Sunday afternoon.During the event, many areas experienced very heavy snowfall rates, up to 3 to 4 inches per hour. As the strongest band of snow moved through the lower Hudson Valley and Southwest Connecticut, reports of "thundersnow" were received, which supported the very intense snowfall rates. The highest snowfall amounts occurred across the northern halves of Fairfield and New Haven counties with 20 to 30 inches; elsewhere, across southern Connecticut, 10 to 15 inches, with some areas up to 20 inches, were common.Winds ranged from 20 to 30 mph with gusts over 50 mph along the coast. Snow and blowing snow created near blizzard conditions with very hazardous driving conditions due to poor visibilities in many areas.The following are select snowfall amounts across southern Connecticut:Southern Fairfield CountyRange: 12 to 25 inchesNorth Stamford - 24.5 inchesBridgeport - 12.5 inchesSouthern Middlesex CountyRange: 10 to 13 inchesClinton - 12.5 inchesOld Saybrook - 11.3 inchesSouthern New Haven CountyRange: 11 to 18 inchesCheshire - 18 inchesNew Haven - 16 inchesOrange - 11 inchesSouthern New London CountyRange: 9 to 11 inchesEast Lyme - 11 inchesGroton - 10.3 inchesUncasville and Waterford - 9 inches

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 11, 4:03 PM EST, 14 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 4:03 PM EST, 14 hours 57 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Southern Fairfield

When
February 12, 7:00 AM 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, Southern New Haven

When
February 12, 7:00 AM 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, Southern Middlesex

When
February 12, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Southern Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.451, -72.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern New London

When
February 12, 11:00 AM EST
Where
Southern New London forecast zone
Reported by
DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates
41.504, -72.101 (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 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, February 2006

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5491408, 5491409, 5491410, 5491411.