Heavy Rain, Hampden
- When
- July 15, 1:00 PM EST to July 16, 4:00 AM EST
- Where
- Hampden County, Southwick
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.135, -72.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Massachusetts, July 15 to 16, 2000
Showers and thunderstorms dumped torrential rainfall along the east slopes of the Berkshires, with many areas received 2 to 4 inches of rain. In the northern part of Franklin County near the Vermont border, radar estimated nearly 9 inches of rain, most of which fell in less than 8 hours.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 2
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 dumped torrential rainfall along the east slopes of the Berkshires, with many areas received 2 to 4 inches of rain. In the northern part of Franklin County near the Vermont border, radar estimated nearly 9 inches of rain, most of which fell in less than 8 hours. Severe flash flooding resulted in the towns of Heath and Rowe, where more than a dozen roads were either partially or completely washed out. Over 50 campers were successfully evacuated from campgrounds in neighboring Charlemont. A portion of Route 116 in Conway was flooded by a nearby stream. In Colrain, the North River crested about one half foot above its 9 flood stage at 550 am EDT.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Franklin
- When
- July 16, 2:15 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Franklin County, Heath
- Reported by
- OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
- Coordinates
- 42.583, -72.592 (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.
- 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
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 15, 2000
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 15, 2000
- Flash Flooding and Flood in New York, July 15 to 16, 2000
- Flash Flood in Florida, July 15, 2000
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Dakota, July 15, 2000
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 15, 2000
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Maryland, July 15, 2000
- Lightning Strike in Missouri, July 15, 2000
- Flash Flooding in Massachusetts, July 15, 2000
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Virginia, July 15, 2000
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 15, 2000
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 15, 2000
More
Every storm in Massachusetts in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, July 2000
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: 5163818, 5163817.