The coldest week in Connecticut, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Connecticut reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
HartfordHartford Bradley International Airport, USW00014740
Jan 21 to 27
18°F
−9°FFeb 4, 2023
Oct 20
−26°FJan 22, 1961records since 1949
BridgeportBridgeport Sikorsky Memorial Airport, USW00094702
Jan 22 to 28
24°F
−4°FFeb 4, 2023
Nov 9
−7°FJan 22, 1984records since 1948
NorfolkNorfolk 2 SW, USC00065445
Jan 23 to 29
13°F
−17°FFeb 4, 2023
Oct 18
−25°FTwice, last on Feb 17, 1943records since 1884
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Hartford against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 3 Connecticut reference stations.
At Hartford it is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 18°F. At the other reference stations: Bridgeport Jan 22 to 28 (24°F) and Norfolk Jan 23 to 29 (13°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Hartford reaches 32°F around Nov 20 and 20°F around Jan 6. The first actual freeze came around Oct 20 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Hartford was −9°F on Feb 4, 2023, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was −4°F. Elsewhere: Bridgeport −4°F on Feb 4, 2023 and Norfolk −17°F on Feb 4, 2023. The record at the Hartford station is −26°F, on Jan 22, 1961, in daily records since 1949.
At Hartford a typical recent winter brings 119 nights at 32°F or colder, 42 at 20°F or colder and 2 at zero or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Hartford Bradley International Airport (USW00014740), Bridgeport Sikorsky Memorial Airport (USW00094702) and Norfolk 2 SW (USC00065445). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
