Connecticut, 2002

Tornado in Connecticut, June 16, 2002

June 16, 2002 · NWS OKX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The tornado developed over Gardner Lake in the northern section of Montville, just to the west of St. Thomas Moore Prep School.

Where it happened

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  • 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
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 OKX wrote it up.

The tornado developed over Gardner Lake in the northern section of Montville, just to the west of St. Thomas Moore Prep School. This is an area of homes along private roads on the eastern shore of the lake. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a wall of water over the lake approaching rapidly and once it hit shore, trees were snapped and water was everywhere. Several trees 2 to 3 feet in diameter in the path of the storm fell in an easterly direction damaging at least 6 cars and the front and side porches of a house. Many of the other trees in the area had their tops twisted off. Winds were estimated at 80 to 90 mph from the damage observed. It appeared from the damage pattern that the tornado quickly lifted.

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 Jun 16, 1:00 PM EST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 1:00 PM EST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
200 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 2002

A LARGE LO PRES SYS CNTRD JUST N OF LK ONTARIO ATTM WL DRFT EWD OVR
THE NEXT FEW DYS. THIS LO WL SWING A TROF THRU THE FA THIS EVE.
THERE WL BE SOME SHWRS/TSTMS WITH AND AHD OF THIS FEATURE.

HAIL INFO...ALRDY HAVE RCVD SVRL REPORTS OF SMALL HAIL. VILS BTWN
35-45 PRODUCG HAIL SIZE BTWN 1/4 AND 1/2 INCH. APPEARS A VIL OF ARND
55 WOULD GIVE 3/4 INCH IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS.

THE LOW SWINGS ANOTHER TROF THRU TMRW AFTN/EVE BUT SHWRS WITH THIS
LKLY TO RMN WELL N OF FA. SFC LO FINALLY MOVS OFF MAINE CST DURG TUE
WITH ONE LAST AND VRY WK TROF SLIDG ACRS THE LCL RGN LT IN THE DAY.
ONCE AGN NO PCPN AS THIS AGAIN SHLD BE WELL N AND NE OF AREA.

TEMPS OVR NEXT FEW DAYS WL AVG SLGLY ABV SEASONAL LVLS. MOS VALUES
APPEAR ON TRACK SO LITTLE DEVIATION EXPTD HERE.

PRLIM TEMPS AND POPS FOLLOW...
EWR   61  80  62  82 /  40  10  10  10
MGJ   53  75  51  79 /  40  10  10  10
DXR   53  75  51  79 /  40  10  10  10
NYC   61  80  62  82 /  40  10  10  10
ISP   58  75  58  76 /  30  10  10  10
GON   58  75  58  76 /  30  10  10  10

MARINE...44025 DID GO BACK UP TO 5 FT...BUT NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF
MOST OF AREA SO WL PRBLY CONT TO LEAVE SCA DOWN.

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 16, 3:11 PM EST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
411 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0350 PM    WATERBURY                 CT   .75 INCH HAIL
06/16/02   NEW HAVEN                      REPORTED BY
SPOTTER

The radar

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, New London

When
June 16, 4:30 PM EST
Where
New London County, Montville
Rating
F1
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
50 yd
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
41.450, -72.133

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Connecticut in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Connecticut, 2002Warnings in Connecticut, June 2002

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: 5324144.