Flash Flood in Connecticut, March 22 to 23, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in Connecticut, March 22 to 23, 2001
Start: 2001-03-22T04:30
End: 2001-03-23T06:00
Location: Connecticut

March 22 to 23, 2001 · NWS BOX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The combination of melting snow and heavy rain brought the Quinnipiac River into flood. 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.

The combination of melting snow and heavy rain brought the Quinnipiac River into flood. It crested at 4.6 feet at 3 pm on the 22nd (flood stage is 3.5 feet). Several roadways near the river were closed by flood waters, but no damage was reported.

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 Mar 21, 9:36 PM EST, 6 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 9:36 PM EST, 6 hours 54 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
936 PM EST WED MAR 21 2001

PREVIOUS FCSTS ESSENTIALLY ON TRACK.  MINOR UPDATE FOR ZONES FOR 1ST
PD WORDING.  ALSO INCRSD OVR NGT MIN TEMPS A BIT SE PTN OF FCST AREA
WHERE STG LOW LVL ELY FLO HAS BEEN PUMPING WARMER AIR INTO THE
REGION RESULTING IN STEADY OR SLTLY RISING TEMPS.

THE WSW FOR HVY SNW AND ADVY AREAS STILL LOOK ABT RIGHT.  ON MRGL
SIDE FOR VERY HVY SNW DUMP NW.  SOME AREAS THAT STARTED AS SNW HV
THERE CHGG TO RAIN AS THE STG FLO AT 850 MB FM E HAS WARMED AIR ALF.
COLDEST AIR WL STAY TO NW THEN MOV S AS WND BACK TO MORE NLY THU AS
LOW CONTS MOVG NEWD E OF THE FA.  TILL THAT HAPPENS THE STG ELY 850
MB FLO WL KEEP TEMPS ABV SFC JUST WARM ENUF TO STAY RAIN, EPCLY SE.

MAIN ISSUE CONTS TO BE FLOOD THREAT.  PCPN HAS ALREADY OCNLY MDT-
HVY AT TIMES SPLY ACRS SRN HLF FA.  WITH RAIN CONTG THRU EXPC STM
TOTAL TO EXCEED 3 INCHES AND WITH GND ALREDY VERY WET FLOODING
OF SML STREAMS APPRS LKLY.

.BOX...WINTER STORM WRNG TNGT AND THU MNLY FOR HI TERRAIN
        MA002>004-008>010-NH011-012.
       WINTER WX ADVY TNGT AND THU FOR HI TERRAIN
        MA005-006-011-012.
       WIND ADVY LATE TNGT AND THU MA022>024.
       FLOOD WATCH THU
        CT002>004-MA005>007-011>019-RI001>004-006.
       STORM WRNG ALL WATERS XCPT GALE WRNG BOS HAR/NARR BAY.

DMH

The radar

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Hartford

When: March 22, 4:30 AM EST to March 23, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Hartford County, Southington
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 41.819, -72.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Quinnipiac River at Southington

What these are

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

Every storm in Connecticut in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Connecticut, March 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: 5238107.