Flooding and Damaging Wind in Connecticut, August 20, 2001

Name: Flooding and Damaging Wind in Connecticut, August 20, 2001
Start: 2001-08-20T13:30
End: 2001-08-20T16:00
Location: Connecticut

August 20, 2001 · NWS OKX · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 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 OKX wrote it up.

On Monday, August 20th, a low pressure system located over the eastern Great Lakes moved east across northern New England. A cold front attached to this low moved east across southern Connecticut during the afternoon hours, preceded and accompanied by scattered strong to locally severe thunderstorms. Thunderstorms tracked east-northeast across Fairfield County between 2:30 and 3:30 PM EDT. The storms produced strong wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph, which tore down numerous trees and large tree limbs, many of which landed on power lines and produced power outages. One house sustained severe damage when a tree toppled onto it on Laurel Lane in Shelton. No one was injured. Funnel clouds were sighted by several trained storm spotters in Wilton, Norwalk, and Shelton.Hail, very heavy rain and frequent cloud to ground lightning also accompanied these storms. Heavy rainfall led to highly localized flooding of roadways and highways. In Middlesex County, flooding temporarily closed Route 9 northbound between exits 10 and 11 near Middletown. In addition, portions of Hartford Avenue were also closed due to flooding. In New London County, flooding was reported on Interstate 395 at exit 83 near Norwich. Flooding also was reported on Old Baltic Road in Franklin, with up to 2 feet of water reported on the road.

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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 9:20 AM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 9:20 AM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
1020 AM EDT MON AUG 20 2001

DISC...WILL HAVE TO MAKE A FEW CHANGES TO THE PREV FCST. FOR THE
START SPC HAS PUT US IN THE SLIGHT RISK FOR TSTM ACTIVITY FOR THIS
AFTN. LOOKING AT THE MRNG SOUNDINGS WE BEGIN THE DAY A BIT UNSTABLE
AND WITH THE WRM FNT JUST TO OUR S AND SOME SHWRS ALREADY BREAKING
OUT AND MOVING TO THE N. AS THE FNT MOVS TO THE N AND THE SLOW MOVNG
CDFNT/TROF APPROACHES FM THE W WE WILL DESTABLIZE A BIT MORE AHND
THE THREAT OF SHWRS/TSTMS WILL BECOME A GREATER RISK.

THERE IS SOME DRYING AT THE H7 LVL AND THIS MAY HELP KP THE THREAT
OF HVY SHWRS DOWN SOME...BUT AS WE DO BECOME A MORE UNSTABLE AND THE
MOIST WORKS ITS WAY INTO OUR RGN WE CUD GET SOME GUSTY WINDS AND HVY
RAINFALL.

SOUNDINGS OUT OF ALB AND BUF SHOW THE MOIST IS UP TO THE H7 LVL AND
THIS WILL WORK INTO OUR RGN BY THE AFTN HRS. ETA BUFKIT SHWS THAT
THERE ARE 30 TO 40 KT WINDS UP INTO THE LWR LVLS AND THIS TOO CUD
GET DOWN WITH THE SHWR ACTIVITY. EARLY MRNG CLDS ARE BEGINNING TO
BREAK UP AND THE SUN IS STRTNG TO APPEAR AND THIS WILL ONLY ENHANCE
US TO DESTABILIZE. THETA RIDGE MOVS IN BY 00Z AND THE ETA MODEL
SHOWS THE RIDGE IS OVR US ARND THEN.

.OKX...
CT...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
NY...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

The radar

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood, 1 funnel cloud, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Fairfield

When: August 20, 1:30 PM EST to 1:40 PM EST
Where: Fairfield County, Norwalk
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.326, -73.447 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Fairfield

When: August 20, 2:00 PM EST to 2:12 PM EST
Where: Fairfield County, Norwalk
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.100, -73.417

Flood, Middlesex

When: August 20, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Middletown
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.451, -72.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, New London

When: August 20, 3:42 PM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: New London County, Norwich
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.504, -72.101 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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, August 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: 5265176, 5265174, 5265175, 5265177.