How Much Water in Your Basement is Too Much?

That was a trick question. The obvious answer is… any water in your basement is too much! But did you know that when it rains 1″ over an acre of land it produces approximately 27,150 gallons of water? And… although it varies based on whether it’s heavy snow or the light and fluffy stuff, a storm with as little as 3″ to 4″ of snow can produce 1″ of water. Where does all that water go? Unfortunately, here in Connecticut, some of that water finds its way into our basements.

Rain or snow, take a look at Connecticut’s average precipitation by month below. It’s good to know in case you’re getting water in your basement. It’s only going to get worse… and the worst months for precipitation are January, February, March and December.

What do you when you find water in your basement? The same thing that you’d do if you had mold in your basement, or a damp musty smell in your basement, or foundation cracks in your basement for that matter. We like to think that you’d call CT Dry Basements at 860-830-7904. Call us or click here to contact us today if you have a leaky basement. March is upon us and we could get about 13.5″ of that wet – and sometimes sticky stuff – that makes puddles in your basement – and sometimes even floods in your basement. Luckily, we’re here to help.

January
January averages 3.5 inches of liquid precipitation; 12.3 inches of snowfall

• 14th – Daylight increasing by 1.5 minutes each day
• 16th – Record high this date 62° F in 1995; record low -8°F in 1994
• 24th – Daylight increasing by 2 minutes each day
• 20-25 is the traditional January thaw

February
February averages 3.2 inches of liquid precipitation; 11.3 inches of snowfall

• Blizzard of 1978 brought 2 feet of snow
• 10th – gaining about 2.5 minutes of sunlight per day
• 16th – lowest temperature ever recorded in Connecticut (-37°F) in Norfolk, 1943

March
March averages 4.2 inches of liquid precipitation; 9.3 inches of snowfall

• 11th – Blizzard of 1888 yields 40+ inches of snow
• 83.1 inches in 1994, is the most snowfall since record keeping began in 1905
• 19th – Blizzard leaves 9-22 inches of snow, making March 1956 the snowiest March on record

April
April averages 4 inches of precipitation

• 10th – Last snowfall of the 1996 season establishes new snowfall record of 115.2 inches surpassing old record set in 1993-1994 by more than 20 inches.
• 18th – Average last frost along coast and in Central Valley

May
May averages 3.4 inches of precipitation

• 9th – Average last frost in Northwest Hills

June
June averages 3.4 inches of precipitation

• 19th – Record high temperature was 95°
• 28th – Record low temperature for day, 40°F, set 1995
• 3 tornadoes touch down: Chester, Hadlyme, and Killingworth, 1998
• Hurricane season begins and runs through November 30th
• 8 inches of hail covered the ground in East Canaan, 1954

July
July averages 3.1 inches of precipitation

• 3rd – Tornado hits the Waterbury/Wolcott line, 1996
• 9th – Tornado hits Monroe, 1996
• 10th – Tornado outbreak in Litchfield and New Haven Counties; Town of Hamden hit the hardest, 1989
• 15th – 2-3″ hailstones fall on Bozrah, Franklin, and Lebanon, 1799
• 15th – Highest temperature ever recorded in Connecticut 106°F in Danbury, 1995
• 22nd – Second highest temperature ever recorded in Connecticut 105°F in Waterbury, 1926
• July’s consistent heat makes it the most thunderstorm-prone month
• July 1994 was hottest on record; average temperature of 77.1°F was 3.4°F above normal

August
August averages 4 inches of precipitation

• 18th – Hurricane Diane, 1955
• 28th – Hurricane Irene, 2011, was one of the costliest hurricanes on record in the Northeastern United States
• 31st – Hurricane Carol, 1954
• Connecticut’s “Tornado Alley” is through Litchfield and Hartford counties, with 21 twisters passing through since 1960

September
September averages 4 inches of precipitation

• 10th – Peak of the hurricane season
• 11th – Hurricane Edna, 1954, causes widespread damage
• 14th – Hurricane Donna, 1960 kills three, causes large crop losses
• 14th – Great Atlantic Hurricane, 1944, causes $100 million in damages
• 21st – Great New England Hurricane, 1938
• 27th – Hurricane Gloria, 1985
• September ranks second to October in clear days, averaging 8.6

October
October averages 3.5 inches of precipitation

• 3rd – Windsor Locks hit by tornado, 1979
• 6th – Average first frost in Northwest Hills
• 10th – Average first frost in Central Valley
• 19th – Average first frost along the coast
• October ranks first in clear days, averaging 9.1

November
November averages 4 inches of liquid precipitation; 2 inches of snowfall

• 12th – first snowfalls often around this time
• 26th – 1898, heaviest two-day snowstorm on record in New Haven and New London
• 30th – Hurricane season ends

December
December averages 4.2 inches of liquid precipitation; 10.4 inches of snowfall

• 45.3 inches of snow in December 1945, making it the snowiest month ever in Connecticut

If your basement leaks, we can fix it. If your basement is moldy and damp, we can fix it. If your basement has foundation cracks, we can fix them. We’re CT Dry Basements and we can fix your basement. Call us today at 860-830-7904.