Flood in Connecticut, April 23 to 30, 2001

Name: Flood in Connecticut, April 23 to 30, 2001
Start: 2001-04-23T10:15
End: 2001-04-30T23:59
Location: Connecticut

April 23 to 30, 2001 · NWS BOX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Additional rainfall and snow melt brought the Connecticut River back into a minor to moderate flood. 9 feet at 3 pm on April 26th (flood stage is 5 feet).

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Additional rainfall and snow melt brought the Connecticut River back into a minor to moderate flood. At Thompsonville, the river crested at 6.1 feet at 11 am on April 24th (flood stage is 5 feet); at Hartford, a crest of 20.3 feet occurred at 1030 am on April 26th (flood stage is 16 feet); at Middletown, the river crested at 11.9 feet at 3 pm on April 26th (flood stage is 5 feet). Once again, flooding was confined to riverside roads and farmland, and no significant flood damage was reported. The Connecticut River remained in flood through the end of the month.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 23, 2:10 AM EST, 8 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 2:10 AM EST, 8 hours 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
310 AM EDT MON APR 23 2001

...FAST FLOW ALFT WL BRING WRM FNT BACK N NX 24 HRS FOLLOWED BY STRNG
CD FNT LATE TUE...

FRNTL BNDRY SLIDING EVER SO SLOWLY SWRD EARLY THIS AM AS HIGH BUILDS
IN TO THE N.  EXPECT ONSHR FLW TO DVLP THIS MORNING AND WL HELP TO
KEEP TEMPS IN THE 60S ACRS THE E.  FARTHER W...MOS GDNC FOR MID 70S
SEEMS FINE.

BNDRY COMES N AS WARM FRNT TNGT.  MDLS/BUFKIT SHWNG INCRS IN LLVL
RH AS WINDS GO S AND DO EXPCT WDSPRD LW CLDS/FOG SE SECTIONS WITH
VALLEY FOG IN THE INTERIOR VALLEYS.

SW FLW SHLD KICK IN TUE MRNG MUCH LIKE IT DID TDY. WITH THAT WL
LINGER AM LW CLDS/FOG SE THEN PS.  PER PREVIOUS FCST...SEEM CHC
RW/TRW+ MVNG ACRS AREA AFT 18Z TUE...DEPARTING CAPE/ISLANDS 09Z WED.
DYNAMICS ARE SPLIT...RRQD DOES AFFECT THE AREA AND ETA CAPES
SUGGEST SOME POTENTIAL.  GREATEST UVVS DVLPG RAPDLY TUE AFTN BUT PER
MODLS FOCUS ACTIVITY SW OF REGION TOWARD MID ATLANTIC.  ETA
SUGGESTING LLVL 850MB JET TO DVLP TUE AFTN SO IF INGREDIENTS COME
TOGETHER...POTENTIAL WOULD BE FOR STRNG WNDS.  LATER FCSTS WL MOST
CERTAINLY REFINE THIS.

.EXNTD...
WED/THU APPEAR DRY WITH SEASONABLE TEMPS...THEN NEXT SYS IN NW FLW
PASSES THU FRI AFNT/EVN WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF SHWRS.

.HYDROWISE...
WELL THE MUCH ADVERTIZED AND LONG AWAITED MELT OF SNOW PACK UP
COUNTRY HAS COMMENCED AND WITH IT...RVR FLD WARNINGS FOR PORTIONS OF
THE CT RIVER.  ALWAYS A CHALLENGE WHEN ITS ENTIRELY SNOWMELT DRIVEN
AND WOULD EXPECT SOME REFINEMENTS TO FCST STAGES WITH THE LATE
MORNING FCST.

DO NOT FORSEE ANY CHANGES TO WATCH AREA WHICH INCLUDES WALPOLE AND
THE HOLYOKE CORRIDOR.  THREAT OF CONVECTIVE RAINS...THOUGH LOCALIZED
TUE...WOULD SPEED UP THE PACE OF THE SNOWMELT UP NORTH AND COULD GIVE
A BIT OF A BOOST TO FCST STAGES FOR MID/LATE WEEK.

WRKZNS OUT BY 315 AM.

.BOX...RIVER FLOOD WRNG FOR CT RVR MONTAGUE-NORTHAMPTON AND
        THOMPSONVILLE TO MIDDLETOWN.
       RIVER FLOOD WATCH FOR CT RVR NORTH WALPOLE AND HOLYOKE.
       SCA S CSTL WATERS FOR SEAS ANZ232>235-237 AND ANZ255.
       SCA MAY BE NEEDED TUE ANZ230>231-236-250-254.

DRV

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Hartford

When: April 23, 10:15 AM EST to April 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Hartford forecast zone
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 41.819, -72.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Connecticut River

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

Every storm in Connecticut in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Connecticut, April 2001

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: 5237975.