Connecticut, 2001

Hail and Lightning Strike in Connecticut, June 11, 2001

June 11, 2001 · NWS BOX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Severe thunderstorms produced nickel-sized hail in Simsbury. Lightning struck the roof of a three-story house in Hartford, sparking a fire, and other lightning strikes caused more than 18,000 electric customers to lose power.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
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.

Severe thunderstorms produced nickel-sized hail in Simsbury. Lightning struck the roof of a three-story house in Hartford, sparking a fire, and other lightning strikes caused more than 18,000 electric customers to lose power.

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 Jun 11, 4:15 PM EST, 2 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 11, 4:15 PM EST, 2 hours 41 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
515 PM EDT MON JUN 11 2001

UPDATE:  WATCHING LN OF TSTMS APCHG CATSKILLS.  MOST SIG ACTVTY IS
ALG SRN EDGE OF LN NEAR BGM WHERE CELLS HAVE MAX REFLEC >75DBZ AND
VILS 50-55.  BASED UPON CURRENT MOVMT...XPCT STORMS TO REACH OUR WRN
ZNS BTWN 6 AND 8 PM.  INSTABY ACRS FA HAS BEEN LIMITED BY RESIDUAL
CLD CVR BUT AMS IS UNSTABL ENUF TO SUPPORT STG OR EVEN MARGINALLY SVR
TSTMS ACRS CT VLY...HAIL BEING THE MAIN THREAT.

18Z ETA HAS A GOOD HNDL ON CURRENT SITU AND SHOWS BEST INSTABY
REMAINING TO OUR S.  THUS WE XPCT STGST TSTM ACTVTY TO SHOW MORE OF
A SEWD MOVMT AND REMAIN S OF FA THIS EVE...BUT THETA-E AXIS WHICH IS
PROGGED FM RUFFLY BDL-PYM SHUD SUPPORT SOME TSTM ACTVTY INTO SE 1/3
OF FA.  ALREADY WE ARE SEEING SOME SIGNS OF DVLPMNT ALG THIS AXIS IN
LWR HUDVLY.

ZFP/RDF WL BE UPDATED TO ADD MNTN OF SMALL HAIL/GUSTY WNDS TO CT VLY
ZNS...AND ALSO TO TIME ENDING OF PCPN LATE TNGT IN ALL ZNS SINCE ETA
INDCTS PCPN WL BE OUT OF FA BY 06Z.  NO OTHER CHGS ATTM.

...PREV DISC...
LOW PRES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION...MORE OR LESS ALONG THE
NORTHERN MA BORDER.  THE FIRST BATCH OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE
BEYOND THE REGION BY LATE AFTN...THEN THE NEXT AREA OF SHWRS/TSTMS
WILL MOVE THRU THIS EVE.  THE SHWRS/TSTMS WERE DEVELOPING A LINE
ACROSS CNTRL NY STATE AT 2 PM.

A WEAK SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS TO THE WEST AND NORTH WED AFTN...AND
MIGHT TRIGGER A SHWR OF TWO.  THE NEXT PERIOD OF RAIN WILL BE THE
POSSIBLE MERGER OF MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH AND FROM THE NORTHWEST
APPROACHING THE REGION ON FRIDAY AND SAT.

MARINE...NO CHANGE IN FCST.

.BOX...NONE.

JWD

The radar

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Hartford

When
June 11, 6:56 PM EST to 6:59 PM EST
Where
Hartford County, Simsbury
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
41.883, -72.800

Lightning, Hartford

When
June 11, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Hartford County, Hartford
Property damage
$20,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
41.819, -72.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, June 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: 5250294, 5250295.