Name: Flash Flood in Vermont, April 22 to 23, 2001
Start: 2001-04-22T17:55
End: 2001-04-23T01:00
Location: Vermont

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: $10,000
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 BTV wrote it up.

Mild weather accompanied by snow melt and periods of light rain resulted in flooding of low lying areas with water across a few local roads. A spotter reported the Mad River in and out of its banks shortly before 7 PM EDT (6 PM EST) along Route 100 from Waitsfield to Moretown with a few local roads closed in Waitsfield. In the Moretown area, the river gage exceeded the flood stage of 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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 22, 2:44 PM EST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 2:44 PM EST, 3 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
344 PM EDT SUN APR 22 2001

COORD WITH NERFC...THANX FOR THE CALL AND THE UPDATED RVF.

CF TO CONT TO SAG DOWN ACRS THE REST OF THE FA AND THEN TO THE SOUTH
OF THE FA TONITE...AS A WK HI PRESS RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE FA FROM THE
WEST. STORM SYS TO MOVE ACRS THE GREAT LKS REGION ON MON...THEN ACRS
QUE ON MON NITE. THIS SYSTEM/S ASSOCIATED CF WILL START TO SWEEP DOWN
ACRS THE FA ON TUE...AS ANOTHER RIDGE OF HI PRESS BUILDS ACRS THE
GREAT LKS REGION. UPR RIDGE TO MOVE ACRS THE FA TONITE AND ON MON.
UPR TROF TO MOVE ACRS THE GREAT LKS REGION ON TUE.

WK H85 CAA TO TAKE PLACE ACRS THE FA TONITE...THEN WK WAA ON MON.
MORE WK CAA ON MON NITE...WITH GOOD CAA DEVELOPING ON TUE. LOW-LVLS
(AND MID-LVLS) TO DRY OUT TONITE ACRS THE FA...THEN SOME AMT OF LOW-
LVL (AND MID-LVL) MOISTURE AROUND THE FA ON MON. MORE LOW-LVL
MOISTURE TO START TO AFFECT THE ST LAW VLY LATE ON MON NITE...WITH
PLENTY OF LOW-LVL MOISTURE AROUND FOR TUE. LOW-LVL MOISTURE ADVECTION
TO TAKE PLACE ACRS THE FA ON MON. H85 THETA-E RIDGE TO CROSS THE FA
FROM THE WEST ON MON NITE. LOW-LVL LAPSE RATES TO BECOME HI ACRS THE
FA FOR TUE. MID-LVLS TO BE DRY ACRS THE FA ON MON NITE...THEN MORE
MID-LVL MOISTURE MOVES ACRS THE FA ON TUE. PW VALUES APPEAR TO BE
AROUND AN INCH FOR MON THRU TUE.

CAPES OF 100-600 J/KG TO BE ACRS NRN NY STATE ON MON AFTERNOON AND
MON EVENING...THEN CAPES OF 400-700 J/KG ACRS THE FA ON TUE. NOTED
PART OF NRN NY STATE IN SPC GEN TSTM OUTLOOK FOR MON/MON NITE. AS WAS
THE CASE YESTERDAY...DON/T SEE MUCH IN THE WAY OF ANY FORCING FOR ANY
SHRA/TSRA ON MON. WILL HOLD OFF ON MENTIONING PCPN AGAIN ACRS THE FA
UNTIL LATE MON NITE ACRS THE ST LAW VLY. TSRA/SHRA A GOOD BET FOR TUE
ACRS THE ENTIRE FA THOUGH.

IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD...HI PRESS TO BE IN CONTROL FOR THE BULK OF
THE PERIOD (DRY WX) EXCEPT LATER ON FRI AND INTO SAT AS ANOTHER CF
DROPS DOWN ACRS THE FA (WILL CONT CHC SHRA FOR THEN).

HYDRO-WISE...STILL SOME LARGER RIVERS UNDER THE GUN FOR POTENTIAL
FLOODING AT LEAST THRU TONITE INCLUDING: THE OTTER CREEK AND THE
BLACK (THE NRN VT ONE)...THE UPR REACHES OF THE MISSISQUOI...THE
AUSABLE...AND THE GREAT CHAZY RIVERS. MANY SPIKES NOTED ON AREA RIVER
GAGES FROM RUNOFF ASSOCIATED WITH SNOWMELT AND THE MINIMAL AMT OF
RAIN THAT THE FA RECEIVED OVER THE LAST 24 HRS (0.25 OR LESS).
COUPLE OF FLOOD WARNINGS ALREADY IN EFFECT AND MORE EXPECTED TO BE
ISSUED INTO TONITE. FIELD FLOODING WILL ALSO BE A PROBLEM FOR
WATERWAYS INTO TONITE. WILL EXTEND FFA INTO TONITE FOR ABOVE
REASONS.

WORK ZONES OUT UNDER ALBWRKCWF. FINAL ZFP BY 4 PM.

.BTV...FFA TONITE NYZ028>031-034-035-VTZ001>012.

MURRAY

The radar

The Burlington radar (KCXX), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:50 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Washington

When: April 22, 5:55 PM EST to April 23, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Washington County, Countywide
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.273, -72.615 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Vermont in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Vermont, April 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: 5243771.