[Thruway]

I spent a lot of time in Trumbull, Fairfield County, CT before I went to college in Boston.

I always find it odd that driving from Trumbull to BOS once I pass metro Hartford, as soon as you get out of Vernon, literally like one second out
the leaves of the trees always seem to come off a lot sooner and spring, the leaves and warm temps, come a lot later.
This contrast happens so fast.

I was told by somebody that Bos and East MA gets N'easters due to the lack of gulf stream, or moreso, that NY has the gulf stream which typically brings warmer air, but that Boston is one of the few US cities north of it and as result, once that line is crossed, it gets a lot cooler and the pressure from it which is just off the LI sound leads to storms getting 'trapped' at sea near Bos and thus N'easter rain.

Could somebody explain to me why, since Boston and east MA is not THAT far north of Fairfield CT why it seems whenever you go from NY to BOS on I-84, once you get out of the Hartford metro area that

1) Fall comes a lot earlier
2) Spring, the leaves, and warm days, come a lot later
3) Why it's damp and N'easter's happen. I would think with cooler waters this would limit the amount of coastal storms, since they like warm temps.

My 'hypothesis' would be that you 'cross' the gulf stream and the impact is quite sudden.
Thanks.

[JayCT]

It probably has to do with the Connecticut River and elevation. Even though it is inland, Hartford is at a relatively low elevation (around 20 feet above sea level). This makes it's climate and that of the whole Connecticut River Valley more like the southern coast than that of the hills of central Massachusetts. You wil often see the hills surrounding Hartford (particularly northwest of the city) getting snow while the rest of the region just gets rain. When you pass Vernon you start to climb in elevation, so the there is a noticeable change in climate and foliage. Same goes for west of the city. East Hartford, Manchester and Vernon are only slightly higher than Hartford, so their climates are similar to Hartford. Jay

[JViello]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It probably has to do with the Connecticut River and elevation. Even though it is inland, Hartford is at a relatively low elevation (around 20 feet above sea level). This makes it's climate and that of the whole Connecticut River Valley more like the southern coast than that of the hills of central Massachusetts. You wil often see the hills surrounding Hartford (particularly northwest of the city) getting snow while the rest of the region just gets rain. When you pass Vernon you start to climb in elevation, so the there is a noticeable change in climate and foliage. Same goes for west of the city. East Hartford, Manchester and Vernon are only slightly higher than Hartford, so their climates are similar to Hartford. Jay

Interesting points. The only difference I would point out is that some parts of Manchester are pretty high up on a ridge with a view of the entire valley. (Case mountain, Highland Park, Birch Mountain area...My particular neighborhood is what I lovingly call a little pimple on the ridge and we are pretty high up there - almost 1000' above sea level!) Going up I384 to get home I actually get off on exit 5 in Bolton and from Hartford you just keep climbing subltly the entire way to that point. Most people who visit don't realize it until I point it out...heck when I first moved here *I* didn't even realize it until I was on a plane pacing the CT river into Bradley and spotted my neighborhood and was like "I live on a ridge? wow." LOL

What I notice is exactly what you say. I'll leave my house sometimes with 2-3 inches of snow on the ground and by the time I get to Exit 3 in Manchester or down into East Hartford it's raining and there is no snow. Or the opposite when heading home - you can watch the rain change to snow or sleet as you ascend the ridge.

We also have a little micro climate up here in regards to fall. For some reason the Manchester/Bolton/Vernon ridge holds foliage sometimes 2 weeks past the other areas. It's actually kind of nice as it gives a little boost to the season.

Interesting subject here for sure.

[Thruway]

So I'm not the only person then who notiches the drastic change in foilage/climate past Vernon, and that elevation might be why, cool.

[wavehunter007]

Having a background in climate science, I have seen a lot of Connecticut weather data – and the data shows there is a rather significant change of climate (relative to distance) around northern Connecticut.

Take snowfall. Southern Connecticut averages about 20 to 25 inches of snow a season (24.5 officially at NWS Bridgeport/New London). Northern Connecticut averages about 40 to 50 inches a season (42.5 NWS Hartford), while parts of the NW hills average 60 to 70 inches a season. If one were to travel from the southeastern shoreline, say Saybrook, up route 9 then up 84 past Vernon – you would triple the amount of snow you get each winter in only 80 miles or so.

Also, the comment about the Gulf Stream is not that far off. Southern Connecticut benefits from having the warmer ocean temps in late fall. Frost here along the southeast Connecticut coast comes around late November, while frost north of Hartford comes as early as the first week or so of October. Here on the shoreline we rake leaves in November, not October.

A few posts back, on one of the forums, some in Connecticut wrote that they have a few fan palms growing. I do as well. Along with some bamboo and several other semi-subtropical plants. I suspect that they would not survive up in northern Connecticut.

Seems southern Connecticut is for people who want the warmth and no snow, and northern Connecticut is for the snow fans and those who seek the New England climate (or at least the start of it).