Rhode Island, 2001

Flash Flood and Flood in Rhode Island, March 30 to 31, 2001

March 30 to 31, 2001 · NWS BOX · 7 events in 6 counties and zones

A storm system brought heavy rain and renewed flooding to much of Rhode Island. Minor flooding occurred on some rivers, as flows remained high from the previous week's flooding.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
7

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.

A storm system brought heavy rain and renewed flooding to much of Rhode Island. Rainfall totals averaged between 3 and 4 inches throughout the state, with as much as 4.37 inches on Block Island, 4.25 inches in Middletown, 3.14 inches in Warwick, and 3.00 inches in Providence.Minor flooding occurred on some rivers, as flows remained high from the previous week's flooding. The Blackstone River at Woonsocket crested at 10.21 feet at 10 am on the 31st (flood stage is 10 feet), and the Pawtuxet River at Cranston crested at 11.86 feet at 715 pm on the 31st (flood stage is 9 feet).

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 30, 10:30 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 30, 10:30 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1030 AM EST FRI MAR 30 2001

THE CURRENT FORECAST...AS A WHOLE IS FINE.  WILL HAVE TO TWEAK TWO
OR THREE SMALL AREAS.  NORTHERN MIDDLESEX COUNTY WILL BE TWEAKED A
LITTLE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT THE SNOW IS STILL FALLING AT A
STEADY CLIP WEST AND NORTH OF BEDFORD AND WOBURN.  5 INCH AMOUNTS
HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN CHELMSFORD AND SHIRLEY.  SECOND AREA TO BE
TWEAKED WILL BE KENT AND PROVIDENCE COUNTIES OF RHODE ISLAND WHERE
A FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED UNTIL 10 PM THIS EVENING.

.BOX...RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS FOR SMALL RIVERS AND STREAMS
       IN NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS SEE BOSFLSBOS RWUS42
       AND BOSFFSBOS RWUS32.
       FLOOD WATCH ALL CWA EXCPT FRANKLIN HAMPSHIRE AND WRN
       HAMPDEN AND CAPE AND ISLES FOR FRI AND SAT.
       GLW ALL WATERS.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THIS MORNING NHZ011-012

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heavy rain, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Providence

When
March 30, 2:43 PM EST to March 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Providence County, Cranston
Reported by
OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates
41.871, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Pawtuxet River at Cranston

Heavy Rain, Providence

When
March 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Providence County, Providence
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.871, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Bristol

When
March 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Bristol County, Bristol
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.706, -71.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Kent

When
March 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Kent County, Warwick
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.673, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Newport

When
March 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Newport County, Middletown
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.500, -71.281 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Washington

When
March 30, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Washington County, Block Is
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.397, -71.620 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Northwest Providence

When
March 31, 12:00 AM EST to 7:44 PM EST
Where
Northwest Providence forecast zone
Reported by
OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates
41.871, -71.579 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blackstone River at Woonsocket

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.
Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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

More

Every storm in Rhode Island in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Rhode Island, 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: 5238106, 5238100, 5238101, 5238102, 5238103, 5238104, 5238105.