Heavy Rain, New Haven
- When
- September 1, 9:00 AM EST to September 2, 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- New Haven County, Countywide
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 41.362, -72.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Connecticut, September 1 to 2, 2002
A storm developed along the mid-Atlantic coast and slowly moved up the coast. This produced widespread heavy rain over the area that began during the morning on Sunday, September 1st and lasted through the day on Monday (Labor Day) September 2nd.
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
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.
A storm developed along the mid-Atlantic coast and slowly moved up the coast. This produced widespread heavy rain over the area that began during the morning on Sunday, September 1st and lasted through the day on Monday (Labor Day) September 2nd. Spotter and Official National Weather Service Observations indicate that between two and a half and three and a half inches of rain fell along the coastal sections of the county.
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 Sep 1, 1:44 AM EST, 7 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 1, 1:44 AM EST, 7 hours 16 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 244 AM EDT SUN AUG 31 2002 MAIN FORECASTING CONCERNS WILL BE IN THE SHORT-TERM. TWO BIGGEST QUESTIONS WILL BE HOW STRONG DO THE WINDS GET ON THE WATERS AND WHEN DOES THE PRECIP START. WV IMAGERY SHOWING NICE VORT STARTING TO GET ITS ACT TOGETHER ACROSS MID-ATLANTIC. LOCATION OF HIGH OVER NEW ENGLAND DEPICTED WELL IN ETA AND AVN. HOWEVER...MAIN DIFFERENCES ARE WITH AREAL EXTENT AND TIMING OF PRECIPITATION. ETA DOES NOT BRING THE PRECIP IN HERE UNTIL MON MORNING. AVN HAS IT RAINING HERE BY 12Z SUN. CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK PROBLEMS MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO THIS OVERDONE SOLUTION. RUC PRECIP IS A LITTLE UNDERDONE TO START AND MOVES IT TO THE SOUTH SHORE A LITTLE AFTER 15Z. I THINK A CONSENSUS FORECAST WILL WORK BEST IN THIS SITUATION. SO THAT WOULD MEAN BRINGING THE PRECIP FROM SOUTH TO NORTH IN HERE BEGINNING AROUND 18Z-20Z. PERIODS OF STEADIER RAIN WILL FOLLOW FOR SUN NIGHT. THIS ACTUALLY IS PRETTY CLOSE TO THE SUNY SB MM5 SOLUTION. IF THE MM5 IS CORRECT...THAT WOULD MEAN STP OF NEARLY 2-2.5 INCHES HERE. COORD WITH HPC...THESE AMOUNTS MAY NOT BE SO FAR OFF...ESPECIALLY ISOLATED OVER LI. WIDESPREAD AMOUNTS OF 1+ INCHES LOOKS LIKELY. WITH THE GROUND STILL SATURATED...WE MAY HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT NUISANCE FLOODING. WINDS HAVE GENERALLY BEEN IN THE 25G30KT RANGE AT 44025 SAT AFT. ETA BUFKIT SEEMS TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE SITUATION. SHOWING WINDS NOT APPROACHING GALE CRITERIA TODAY AND THIS SOUNDS REASONABLE...SO WILL CONTINUE WITH THE SCA. MARINE...SCA WILL GO UP AGAIN FOR THE SOUND AS THE GRADIENT TIGHTENS SUN AFT. AVIATION...MNLY VFR ATTM...THO SUM CSTL STNS W/ BKN025 RIGHT NOW. EXPECT THINGS TO DROP FAIRLY QUIKLY TNGT TO IFR/LIFR W/ RA ONSET AND HVR RAFL AFT 00Z. PCPN ONSET KNYC VCNTY 18Z OR SO...20Z KISP... 21Z-22Z KSWF/KHPN/KBDR. COASTAL FLOOD POTENTIAL...WILL MENTION POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED MINOR FLOODING AND/OR BEACH EROSION AT TIMES OF HIGH TIDE FOR LI SOUTH SHORE IN ANZ355. TIDES RUNNING 1-1.5 FT ABOVE NORMAL RIGHT NOW AND THIS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE. HWVR OUTSIDE OF USUAL TROUBLE SPOTS (SUCH AS FREEPORT)...THESE SURGES FOR MOST AREAS MEAN WE SHOULD REMAIN BELOW MINOR BENCHMARKS. FLOOD POTENTIAL...UNLESS THE 2-2.5 ALL FALLS IN A 1-2 HR PERIOD... NOT EXPECTING SGFNT PROBLEMS ATTM. NO FFA ATTM. THE OKX CREW... HIRSCH...PUBLIC/MARINE REYNOLDS...AVIATION/CSTL FLOOD PTNTL/HYDRO CT...NONE. NY...NONE. NJ...NONE. MARINE...SCA ALL WATERS...ANZ355-353-350-338-335-330.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Wildfire in California, September 1 to 12, 2002
- Drought in Kentucky, September 1 to 30, 2002
- Drought in Illinois, September 1 to 30, 2002
- Drought in Indiana, September 1 to 30, 2002
- Heat in California, September 1, 2002
- Rip Current in Alabama, September 1, 2002
- Rip Current in Florida, September 1, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, September 1 to 12, 2002
- Flash Flood in Wisconsin, September 1, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, September 1, 2002
- Drought in West Virginia, September 1 to 25, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, September 1, 2002
More
Every storm in Connecticut in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, September 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: 5320513.