Connecticut, 2002

Hail in Connecticut, May 27, 2002

May 27, 2002 · NWS ALY · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Late on Memorial Day, the air became unstable enough to produce widely scattered showers and thunderstorms across Litchfield County. One storm became locally severe as it desposited dime size hail in the town of Cornwall.

Where it happened

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  • 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
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 ALY wrote it up.

Late on Memorial Day, the air became unstable enough to produce widely scattered showers and thunderstorms across Litchfield County. One storm became locally severe as it desposited dime size hail in the town of Cornwall.

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 Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 27, 2:45 PM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 27, 2:45 PM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
345 PM EDT MON MAY 27 2002

DISC...
STATRY FNT EXTENDS ACROSS SERN ULSTER...DUTCHESS...AND LITCHFIELD
COS...WITH SCTTRD SHRA/TSRA POPPING UP THRU THE NRN CATSKILLS
EWRD TOWRD SRN VT.  WILL EXTND CHC OF SHWRS/TSTMS TO INCLUDE
CAP DIST AND SRN VT.

FNT REMAINS STALLED ACROSS THE REGN THRU TUE NITE...THEN WAVE
FORMS ALONG AIRMSS BDRY AS A LO DEVELOPS OVR GT LAKES STATES.
CIRCLN ARND MIDWST LO ALONG WITH MARITIME LO OFF THE SE COAST
BRINGS IN CONSIDERBL MOISTURE TO REGN WITH MOISTURE SATURN
THRU H3 ON AVN...WITH ETA RH OF 70 PCT THRU H3. WILL MERGE
PREV PKG CHC OF PM TSTMS TO A MORE GENERAL CHC OF SHWRS/TSTMS
FOR THE WHOLE DAY...AND UP POPS TO 40 TO 50 PCT. FEEL THE
ADDED DEEP MOISTURE WILL LEAD TO MOSTLY OVC SKIES WHICH WILL
PUT SOMEWHAT OF A DAMPER ON SOLAR HEATING...SO FEEL THAT A
MORE PROLONGED CHC OF SHWRS WITH SOME THUNDER DURING THE
AFTN A POSSIBILITY AS WELL.  FOR SIMPLICITY HAVE WORDED A
CHC OF SHWRS AND TSTMS.  SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR MAKES ITS WAY
INTO THE REGN LATE WED NITE.

EXTENDED...
REGION WILL REMAIN UNDER H50 ZONAL FLOW THRU THU...WHEN DEEPENING
TROUGH APPROACHES WRN GREAT LAKES.  EXPECT THU TO REMAIN DRY AS WEAK
RIDGE DEVELOPS AHEAD OF TROUGH.  ALSO...UNCERTAINTY STILL EXISTS IN
AVN/MRF AS TO FATE OF TROPICAL SYSTEM OFF SE COAST BY LATE WEEK.
STRONG SFC COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH DIGGING H50 TROUGH CROSSES NY
ON FRIDAY.  CWA SHOULD STILL BE IN MOIST AIR MASS...AND DYNAMIC
SUPPORT LOOKS SOLID...SO SHRA/TSRA STILL A GOOD BET...WITH SOME
POTENTIAL FOR SVR WX.  UNSEASONABLY COOL WX WILL ROLL IN BEHIND
FRONT ON SAT...THEN CLIPPER TYPE SYSTEM DIVES THROUGH H50 NW FLOW ON
SUN...SO WILL ADD CHC SHRA.

.HYDROLOGICAL STATUS...NO HYDRO PROBLEMS...GRND WILL SOAK UP
MOST OF THE PCPN FROM THE SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY.

.ALY...NONE

SHORT TERM...KILPATRICK
LONG TERM...CEMPA

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:05 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Litchfield

When
May 27, 5:05 PM EST
Where
Litchfield County, Cornwall
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.833, -73.333

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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 historyWarnings in Connecticut, May 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: 5298929.