Connecticut, 2011

Extreme Cold and Cold in Connecticut, January 23 to 24, 2011

January 23 to 24, 2011 · NWS ALY · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Bitterly cold air settled into the region as Canadian high pressure built in Sunday night January 23rd, into early Monday morning on January 24th. Temperatures plummeted to 5 to 15 degrees below zero across Litchfield County.

Where it happened

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.

  • 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
2

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 ALY wrote it up.

Bitterly cold air settled into the region as Canadian high pressure built in Sunday night January 23rd, into early Monday morning on January 24th. Temperatures plummeted to 5 to 15 degrees below zero across Litchfield County. Brisk westerly winds diminished during the evening, becoming light and variable to calm after midnight. The winds resulted in wind chill readings of 15 to 25 degrees below zero.

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 Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 23, 5:56 PM EST, 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 23, 5:56 PM EST, 4 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 23, 4:34 PM EST, 1 hour 26 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

1 cold/wind chill, 1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Litchfield

When
January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Southern Litchfield forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
41.847, -73.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Litchfield

When
January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Litchfield forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
41.847, -73.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill
Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Connecticut in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, January 2011

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 277413, 279483.