Flood, Hartford
- When
- December 3, 5:00 PM EST to December 6, 8:00 AM EST
- Where
- Hartford forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.819, -72.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Connecticut, December 3 to 6, 1996
Heavy rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches on the first and second of the month combined with some snow melt in the Connecticut River Basin to produce runoff, which resulted in minor flooding of several small streams and flooding along the Connecticut River below Thompsonville. 1 feet at 6:30 AM, then fell below flood stage at 8:00 AM.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.
Heavy rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches on the first and second of the month combined with some snow melt in the Connecticut River Basin to produce runoff, which resulted in minor flooding of several small streams and flooding along the Connecticut River below Thompsonville. The South Branch of the Park River...a small stream...reached flood stage of 10 feet at Hartford at 5:40 AM on December 2nd, crested at 11.1 feet at 6:30 AM, then fell below flood stage at 8:00 AM. The North Branch of the Park River reached flood stage of 8 feet at Hartford at 6:00 AM on the 2nd, crested at 9.4 feet at 10:30 AM, and fell below flood stage at 11:00 PM. The Connecticut River reached flood stage of 16 feet at Hartford at 5:00 PM on December 3rd, crested at 18.6 feet 24 hours later on the 4th, then fell below flood stage at 8:00 AM on December 6th.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Connecticut in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, December 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5584294.