Climate of New England
Coastal Rhode Island and southern Connecticut are the broad transition zone from continental climates to the north, to temperate climates (called subtropical in some climate classifications) to the south. In this region, summers can be quite long and hot, with humid, tropical air masses being common between May and September. Convective thundershowers are common in summer. The coast of Connecticut from Stamford, through the New Haven area to the New London, and Westerly and Newport, Rhode Island area is usually the mildest area of New England in winter. Winter precipitation in this area falls mostly in the form of rain or a wintry mix of sleet, rain , and wet snow. Seasonal snowfall is far less across far southern Connecticut and coastal Rhode Island here than it is across interior and Northern coastal areas (only 24 to 30 inches (610 to 760 mm) of snow annually. Cold snaps in this far southern zone also tend to be shorter and less intense than points north. Winters also tend to be sunnier and warmer in southern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island compared to northern and central New England. The frost-free growing season approaches 200 days along the Connecticut coast.
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