YIR: Wild Weather of 2011

January Snow

Beginning with a fierce snowstorm on New Years Eve, January 2011 brought records amount of snow, at times and causing . Brookfields emergency responders stepped up during the storm, .

And you, the reader, chipped in, with and sending in your snow shots to chronicle the historic string of storms: ; ; ; ; ; .

Spring Floods

By March all that snow began to melt, producing and . Brookfield did not suffer too greatly as a whole from the flooding, however certain flood-prone areas like Federal Road on the Danbury line and were under feet of water for days at a time.

Three-Day Blackout

A vicious , causing the first major power outage of the year and leaving . Brookfielders found interesting ways to cope without electricity: ; ; . Little did they know it was only a preamble of storms to come.

A Woodbury resident was able to capture during the storm, a rare event in this portion of Connecticut.

Heat Wave

Matching record snowfall this winter, the summer responded with , the and as cooling centers.

Earthquake

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck Virginia late August, sending out shock waves felt as far north as Canada. , too, from small shakes to queasy feelings and flickering televisions.

Irene

A few days after the earthquake, Hurricane Irene worked its way up the East Coast, and . Heavy winds and driving rains brought down tree limbs and wires through town and left more than . Compared to the June storm, , but the worst weather of the year was on its way.

Alfred

The worst storm of the year struck Brookfield on October 29 — . The freak snowstorm left less than a foot of snow on the ground, however the ground was well covered with wires, limbs and uprooted trees. The early timing of the storm meant that most trees still had their leaves, which grew heavy with accumulated snow and ice.

Alfred caused widespread power outages throughout the state, by the time the storm let up, forcing , emergency shelters to open and town officials to . The before full power was restored.

Along with a from the storm, Brookfield Patch also chronicled the “,” as blogger Kathy Schilling put it, and the resourceful ways Brookfield residents were able to manage.

The successive widespread power outages and the duration of restoration efforts . The so-dubbed “Two Storm Panel” .