Heavy Rain, Kent
- When
- May 23, 5:00 PM EST to May 24, 9:00 PM EST
- Where
- Kent County, Warwick
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.673, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Rhode Island, May 23 to 24, 1999
Showers and thunderstorms, ahead of an approaching cold front, brought torrential rainfall to much of central and southern Rhode Island. 15 inches in Charlestown.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
- 4
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.
Showers and thunderstorms, ahead of an approaching cold front, brought torrential rainfall to much of central and southern Rhode Island. Totals of 2 to 3 inches were common, with as much as 3.15 inches in Charlestown. In Warwick, the heavy rains loosened a weakened retaining wall on a building in a shopping complex on Route 2, and caused the wall to fall through a roof. Part of the roof then fell off the building onto several nearby cars. No injuries were reported.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Bristol
- When
- May 23, 5:00 PM EST to May 24, 9:00 PM EST
- Where
- Bristol County, Bristol
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.706, -71.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Washington
- When
- May 23, 5:00 PM EST to May 24, 9:00 PM EST
- Where
- Washington County, Charlestown
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.397, -71.620 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Newport
- When
- May 23, 5:00 PM EST to May 24, 9:00 PM EST
- Where
- Newport County, Newport
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.500, -71.281 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in California, May 23, 1999
- Lightning Strike in Tennessee, May 23, 1999
- Tornadoes in Michigan, May 23, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 23, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Oklahoma, May 23, 1999
- Lightning Strike in Texas, May 23, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, May 23, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 23, 1999
- Flooding in Kansas, May 23 to 24, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 23, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 23, 1999
- Damaging Winds in Arkansas, May 23, 1999
More
Every storm in Rhode Island in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Rhode Island, May 1999
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: 5698586, 5698587, 5698588, 5698589.