High Wind in Connecticut, September 11, 2002

Name: High Wind in Connecticut, September 11, 2002
Start: 2002-09-11T13:32
End: 2002-09-11T13:32
Location: Connecticut

September 11, 2002 · NWS ALY · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $20,000
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 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 Sep 11, 12:45 PM EST, 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 12:45 PM EST, 47 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
145 PM EDT WED SEP 11 2002

.DISCUSSION...WIND ADVSIORY ISSUED FOR LITCHFIELD CTY.  RELIABLE
REPORT OF WIND G-56 MPH.  ALSO A REPORT OF A FEW LIMBS DOWN. VIS
SATLT IMAGES INDICATE THIS AREA STILL PRETTY SUNNY WITH TS WARMING
INTO LO/MID 70S.  HEATING HAS LIKELY CAUSED A DEEP MIXED LAYER.
CLOUDS TO THE WEST SHUD MOV IN SHORTLY AND TEMPS WL DROP.   AS A
RESULT STG WINDS WONT LAST TOO LONG.

.ALY...WIND ADVSY THRU 4 PM CTZ001

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Litchfield

When: September 11, 1:32 PM EST
Where: Litchfield forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.847, -73.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

During the afternoon of September 11, a steep gradient developed between a cool Canadian high pressure area over the Great Lakes, and a double barreled low pressure area, including the circulation from Hurricane Gustaf, off the mid Atlantic Coast. This scenario resulted in a high wind event across Litchfield County. Strong northwesterly wind gusts were clocked as high as 60 mph by a weather spotter in the town of Watertown. There were reports of some trees down and spotty power outages throughout the county.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Connecticut in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5318340.