Hartford: Geography and Climate

Hartford, located in Hartford County in the center of Connecticut, is midway between New York City to the south and Boston, Massachusetts, to the north. The entire city is contained within the fertile Connecticut River Valley. Poised on a rise above the west side of the Connecticut River, the city of Hartford is set among a gently rolling landscape with extensive level areas. Hartford, at the head of the navigable portion of the river, has been a major inland port of entry.

Hartford's mild climate is typical of New England, neither very hot in the summer nor extremely cold in the winter. Storm activity building up in and moving eastward from the Berkshire Mountains, a northern branch of the Appalachian chain, accounts for the city's many summer thunderstorms. The Atlantic Ocean to the south contributes the famous wind and rain storms known locally as northeasters.