Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Preston, CT

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Norwich Public Utility Plt, CT, 5 miles west of Preston at 20 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 21°F. March is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and May and July the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 52.3 inches over 78 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (26.2 of 52.3 inches). September has brought the most of the 55 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (23); a normal September there has highs of 76°F and 4.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 124 nights a year. Snowfall averages 27.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 52.3 inches is more than at 20 of the 27 Connecticut stations used on this site (74%). North Stonington, 6 miles southeast, has its own station (Westerly State Airport, RI): 42.9 inches a year, 9.4 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 84°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station New London, CT, 12 miles southwest, averaged 71°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the New London tide gauge, 12 miles from Preston, has risen 1.16 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1938 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 66 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 108 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Preston: 53 thunderstorm wind reports, 24 flash floods, 23 floods and 8 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 19, and the NWS estimated $6.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on July 2, 2008. July has had the most flash floods, 12 of 24. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 81 have had fewer than Preston.