Flash Flood, Northwest Providence
- When
- January 12, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northwest Providence forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.871, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Rhode Island, January 12, 1996
Snow quickly changed to heavy rain and resulted in massive highway flooding. Giant puddles flowed across expressways and urban streets.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
- 5
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.
Snow quickly changed to heavy rain and resulted in massive highway flooding. Giant puddles flowed across expressways and urban streets. Rainfall, thawing temperatures, and snow melt clogged catch basins. In Scituate, officials closed Route 116 when 4 feet of water filled the road. In Providence, cars stalled out in several streets filled with 2 to 3 feet of water.
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:58 UTC.
Event by event
5 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Southeast Providence
- When
- January 12, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Southeast Providence forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.871, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Western Kent
- When
- January 12, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Kent forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.673, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Eastern Kent
- When
- January 12, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Kent forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.673, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Bristol
- When
- January 12, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Bristol forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.706, -71.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in South Carolina, January 12, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 12, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Virginia, January 12, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Maine, January 12 to 13, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, January 12 to 13, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, January 12, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Maryland, January 12, 1996
- Winter Storm in Vermont, January 12 to 13, 1996
- Winter Storm in New York, January 12 to 13, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 12 to 13, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 12 to 13, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 12 to 13, 1996
More
Every storm in Rhode Island in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Rhode Island, January 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5551986, 5551987, 5551988, 5551989, 5551990.