Flash Flood, Franklin
- When
- June 5, 6:46 PM EST to June 6, 12:30 PM EST
- Where
- Franklin County, North Portion
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 44.858, -72.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Vermont, June 5 to 6, 2002
Low pressure moved across extreme southern Canada. The associated cold front triggered locally heavy thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening hours across northwest Vermont, especially across the northern half of Franklin county.
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
- $25,000
- 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 happened
The episode as NWS BTV wrote it up.
Low pressure moved across extreme southern Canada. The associated cold front triggered locally heavy thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening hours across northwest Vermont, especially across the northern half of Franklin county. Flash flooding was reported in an area from the Vermont towns of St Albans to Enosburg to Richford and Montgomery. Road washouts were reported along portions of Route 58 near Montgomery Center. Also, some basement flooding was reported as small streams exceeded their banks.
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 Jun 5, 1:55 PM EST, 4 hours 51 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 5, 1:55 PM EST, 4 hours 51 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT 255 PM EDT WED JUN 5 2002 WARM FRONT SLOWLY PROGRESSING EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON...FINALLY ALLOWING MUCH OF OUR FORECAST AREA TO GET INTO THE POTENTIAL INSTABILITY. MUCH OF THE CONVECTION BREAKING OUT THIS AFTERNOON HAS BEEN SLOW TO DEVELOP GIVEN THE PALTRY AMOUNT OF INSOLATION THUS FAR. IT STILL APPEARS THAT THE LAKE GEORGE REGION EASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN VERMONT WILL REMAIN UNDER THE GUN THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR ORGANIZED CONVECTION. HAVE LEFT DAMAGING WIND WORDING IN SOUTH CENTRAL VERMONT ZONES FOR THIS EVENING. MEANWHILE...THE COLD FRONT LAGS BACK TO THE NORTH AND WILL EVENTUALLY CROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT. HAVE TAPERED THE PRECIP FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST TOWARD MORNING...WITH THE ONLY PRECIP CHANCES REMAINING THURSDAY MORNING IN SOUTH CENTRAL VERMONT. GIVEN THE SLOW SPEED AT WHICH THE FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION TONIGHT...BELIEVE THE CLEARING OF THE SKY COVER THURSDAY WILL ALSO BE DELAYED UNTIL AFTERNOON. ULTIMATELY THE INCOMING SURFACE RIDGE WILL BRING MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. A FROST ADVISORY MAY BE REQUIRED FOR THE ADIRONDACKS THURSDAY NIGHT...MIDNIGHT SHIFT CAN CONSIDER THIS EVENTUALITY. DAYS 4 TO 7...THE NORTHERN BRANCH SHORTWAVE WHICH IS FORECAST TO CUT ACROSS QUEBEC SATURDAY AND SUNDAY NOW APPEARS TO BE TRACKING SO FAR NORTH OF THE AREA THAT NO PRECIP IS LIKELY FROM THIS SYSTEM. FARTHER UPSTREAM...THE LATEST AVN RUNS ARE SLOWER WITH THE EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TROUGH INTO THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. ADDITIONALLY...AVN ENSEMBLE MEAN IS MUCH LESS AMPLIFIED WITH THE DOWNSTREAM RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. THIS WOULD SUGGEST NOT ONLY SLIGHTLY COOLER MAX TEMPERATURES THAN YESTERDAYS RUNS...BUT ALSO LESS OPPORTUNITY FOR A BACKDOOR COLD FRONT TO DROP INTO NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND. ANY GREAT PLAINS NOCTURNAL MCS DEVELOPMENT COULD TRACK OUR WAY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT... BUT UNCERTAINTY IN PREDICTING THIS KIND OF FEATURE MAKES IT BETTER TO LEAVE OUT OF THE MEDIUM-RANGE FORECAST AT THIS TIME. FINALLY THE UPPER SHORTWAVE MOVES INTO THE GREAT LAKES APPROXIMATELY TUESDAY... BRINGING THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AND SOME COOLER TEMPERATURES. ST. JEAN .BTV...NONE.
The radar
The Burlington radar (KCXX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:43 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Vermont, June 5, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Pennsylvania, June 5 to 6, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, June 5, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Pennsylvania, June 5, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, June 5, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Maryland, June 5, 2002
- Flooding and Hail in Georgia, June 5, 2002
- Tornado in Florida, June 5, 2002
- Damaging Wind in New York, June 5, 2002
- Tornado in Connecticut, June 5, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, June 5, 2002
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, June 5, 2002
More
Every storm in Vermont in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Vermont, 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: 5304847.