Connecticut, 2001

Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Connecticut, August 27, 2001

August 27, 2001 · NWS OKX · 3 events in 1 county or zone

On Monday, August 27th, a weak trough of low pressure approached southern Connecticut from the west. Ahead of this trough, very warm, moist air, combined with unstable atmospheric conditions, led to the development of strong to locally severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and early evening 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 27th, a weak trough of low pressure approached southern Connecticut from the west. Ahead of this trough, very warm, moist air, combined with unstable atmospheric conditions, led to the development of strong to locally severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and early evening hours. Thunderstorms produced strong winds gusts, which downed some tree limbs onto power lines, resulting in scattered power outages from Darien to Norwalk in Fairfield County.As the thunderstorms interacted with a sea breeze boundary along the Connecticut coast, they redeveloped and moved very slowly east. These thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall across the immediate coastal sections of southern Fairfield County, leading to localized flooding from Greenwich to Norwalk, particularly south of Interstate 95. This flooding led to some road closures during the heart of the evening commute.

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 27, 1:35 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 27, 1:35 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
235 PM EDT MON AUG 27 2001

MODELS IN GOOD AGRMNT NEXT FEW DYS WITH SOLNS LOOKG REASONABLE. FA
WILL WITNESS THE PASSAGE OF A COUPLE OF FNTS...THE FIRST ONE TNGT
WHICH WEAKENS CONSIDERABLY AS IT DRIFTS EWD ACRS THE AREA. THE NEXT
FNT MOVS THRU TUE EVE/NGT.

POPS...MINIMAL CHC WITH BOTH OF THESE BOUNDRIES...HWR BLV MODELS ARE
UNDERDOING THE IMPACT OF THE SECOND FNT. LIKE THE DISCUSSION IN
SWODY2 WITH REGARD THIS.

RDG BLDG IN THRU THE MIDWEEK PD WITH COOLER AND DRIER AIR BEING
USHERED IN.

MARINE...NO FLAGS NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AT LEAST.

PRELM TEMPS AND POPS FOLLOW...
EWR   72  89  69  85 /  30  10  30   0
MGJ   63  85  61  81 /  30  10  30   0
DXR   63  85  61  81 /  30  10  30   0
NYC   72  88  69  85 /  30  10  30   0
ISP   65  83  64  80 /  30  10  30   0
GON   65  83  64  80 /  30  10  30   0

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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Thunderstorm Wind, Fairfield

When
August 27, 3:12 PM EST to 3:28 PM EST
Where
Fairfield County, Darien
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.083, -73.467

Flash Flood, Fairfield

When
August 27, 4:00 PM EST
Where
Fairfield County, Stamford
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.326, -73.447 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Fairfield

When
August 27, 4:52 PM EST
Where
Fairfield County, Norwalk
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.326, -73.447 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

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.
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

More

Every storm in Connecticut in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5265166, 5265167, 5265168.