A new book will be published in December or January entitled The Stagecoach Era in Vernon and Tolland: 1807-1863 by Marshall Atwater. The book describes the development of turnpikes and taverns in northeastern Connecticut with the hub of many turnpikes in Tolland. One could travel by turnpike from Tolland to Hartford, Springfield, Worcester, Boston, Providence and Norwich. Stagecoach routes that changed horses at taverns on the turnpikes formed with the heaviest travel between Hartford, Tolland and Worcester with 50 stagecoaches a week. Tolland became prosperous with the travel and its location as county seat. The stagecoach era ended when the railroads developed and took over long distance travel. This allowed Rockville to be developed with many woolen mills and a direct connection with the railroad. To order a copy, send the request to atwaterm@comcast.net
Month: November 2017
Forecast for Winter 2017-18
The year 2017 had relatively normal weather. The drought ended in March. The resultant snowfall exceeded the original seasonal prediction. The summer has near normal temperatures with fewer than normal number of days with 90 degrees. October turned out to be the warmest October as cold air failed to arrive. The National Weather Service forecasted near normal temperature and above normal snowfall for near I-95 in southern New England.
Based on the record October temperature, I examined the following winters in which the October temperatures were nearly the same. The four warmest years at Bradley Airport were 1963, 2007, 1971, and 1949. In addition, the first two years had below normal days with 90 degrees. The following winters had 52 and 45 inches of snow, on the higher side of normal. The next two years had 50 and 42 inches of snowfall. Three of the four years had temperatures slightly above normal and 1963 was about 3 degrees colder than normal. 1963 winter was heavily cooled by the presence of dust from the eruption of the volcano at Mount Agung in Indonesia. There are also reports of a possible new eruption in the near future for this volcano.
Based on the analysis, the prediction is for 45-50 inches of snow at Bradly Airport with near normal temperatures. In general, there is less snow near the coast and higher amounts of snow in the northwestern and northeastern hills.