Damaging Wind in Vermont, August 18, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Vermont, August 18, 2002
Start: 2002-08-18T18:00
End: 2002-08-18T19:00
Location: Vermont

August 18, 2002 · NWS BTV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold front moved across Vermont during the evening hours. Scattered evening thunderstorms moved across Essex county Vermont with locally heavy rainfall.

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

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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 BTV wrote it up.

A cold front moved across Vermont during the evening hours. Scattered evening thunderstorms moved across Essex county Vermont with locally heavy rainfall. Small hail was reported in the town of Island Pond.

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 Aug 18, 2:11 PM EST, 3 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 2:11 PM EST, 3 hours 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
311 PM EDT SUN AUG 18 2002

COLD FRONT WILL MOVE QUICKLY ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA
EARLY THIS EVENING. WILL HOLD ON TO A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS EAST THIS EVENING.

TONIGHT WILL FEATURE MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND WINDS BECOMING CALM WITH
SOME PATCHY VALLEY FOG. TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 40S IN THE DACKS
TO NEAR 60 CHAMPLAIN VALLEY.

ON MONDAY SHORTWAVE APPROACHING FROM THE WEST LATER IN THE DAY
FAR WEST. DECENT QG FORCING FOR UPPER SUPPORT. DEEP LAYER MOISTURE
LACKING HOWEVER. EXPECT SOME INCREASING MID/HIGH CLOUDS CHAMPLAIN
VALLEY WEST IN THE AFTERNOON REACHING EAST ZONES MONDAY NIGHT.
850 TEMPS AROUND 11C SHOULD GIVE MAX TEMPS IN THE MID 70S TO
LOWER 80S.

MONDAY NIGHT SOME DISCREPANCIES IN MODELS. SHORT RANGE ENSEMBLES SHOW
BEST CHANCE OF MEASURING WOULD BE IN THE SOUTHERN VT ZONES. ETA
SUPPORTS THIS WHILE AVN A BIT MORE LIBERAL WITH AREAL COVERAGE
FURTHER NORTH. THIS DIFFERENCE IS ALSO EVIDENT IN MODEL POPS WITH
AVN HIGHEST AND ETA/NGM IN THE LOW CAMP. WILL TEND LOWER POPS BUT
KEEP MENTION OF SHOWERS.

WAVE MOVES OUT TUESDAY AND HIGH PRESSURE TAKES OVER INTO
THURSDAY FOR A NICE SUNNY DAYS. TEMPS TUES IN THE 70S WARMING INTO
THE 80S MAYBER NEAR 90 BY THURSDAY.

DEEPENING TROF FORECAST THURSDAY-SUNDAY TIME FRAME WITH SHOWERS.
OPERATIONAL MRF FASTER/DEEPER THAN ENSEMBLE MEANS SO IT MAY BE
OVERDONE. WILL KEEP GENERAL FORECAST GOING INTO SUNDAY.

.BTV...NONE.

SISSON

The radar

The Burlington radar (KCXX), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Essex

When: August 18, 6:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where: Essex County, Island Pond
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.728, -71.736 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Vermont in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Vermont, August 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: 5312663.