Vermont, 2002

High Wind in Vermont, May 3, 2002

May 3, 2002 · NWS BTV · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A storm system moved from the eastern Great Lakes on Thursday, May 2nd down the St Lawrence Valley and into Canada by early Friday, May 3rd. Strong winds on the backside of this system resulted in some wind damage in portions of eastern Vermont.

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
$10,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 storm system moved from the eastern Great Lakes on Thursday, May 2nd down the St Lawrence Valley and into Canada by early Friday, May 3rd. Strong winds on the backside of this system resulted in some wind damage in portions of eastern Vermont. The high winds blew down trees and power lines in the towns of Lyndonville and St Johnsbury of Caledonia county. Several trees were blown down in Quechee (Windsor 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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 3, 4:26 AM EST, 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 4:26 AM EST, 34 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
526 AM EDT FRI MAY 3 2002

UPR TROF PASSING A BIT TOO EARLY IN THE DAY TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM
DYNAMIC AND INSTABILITY LIFT, BUT STILL EXPECT LTL MORE LW LVL
WARMTH THAN SHOWN IN BUFKIT SOUNDINGS.  WK VORT TROF PASSING AT
THIS MOMENT...MAY LEAVE US WITH A BIT OF HEATING DURING MID
MRNG.  THEN SCATTERED SHOWERS SHOULD DVLP AT MIDDAY...ESPECIALLY AS
SECONDARY SFC BNDRY ARRIVES EARLY AFTN ALONG THE CANADIAN BRDR.
TOPS OF CONVECTIVE CELLS MAY ONLY BE ABOUT 15K FT.  CHOSE NOT TO
MENTION THUNDER, BUT CONVECTIVE PROCESSES AND LOW FRZG LVL SEEMS
TO SUPPORT SMALL HAIL.  SHOWERS WILL ALSO LKLY INCLUDE SOME
SNOWFLAKES OVER ESPECIALLY THE HIGHER TERRAIN.

CHOSE NOT TO USE WIND HEADLINES...BUT DID USE WINDY IN MOST
ZONES.  OUR FCST AREA SEEMS TO BE A BIT TOO CLOSE TO THE UPR
LOW TO BE IN THE TIGHTEST GRADIENTS.

CLEARING AND WKNG WIND TONIGHT SUGGEST TEMPS NEAR OR BELOW FRZG...
BUT NEAR GUIDANCE.

GREAT DAY ON SATURDAY...ESPECIALLY AFTER LONG STRETCH OF CHILLY
AND/OR CLOUDY DAYS.  BY LATE AFTN WE SHOULD REACH NEAR DRY
ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE FROM H8 TO THE SFC AND PRODUCE TEMPS WELL
INTO THE 60S PER MAV GUIDANCE.

WK FRONT ON SUNDAY WILL PROBABLY SLIDE THRU DRY, SINCE MSTR
RETURN HAS NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED AND UPR SUPPORT IS WEAK.

NEXT PRECIP PSBLTY COMES LATE MONDAY AND AGAIN LATE WEDNESDAY INTO
THURSDAY AS WEAK S/WVS FROM THE UPR MS VLY DRAG SOME MSTR CNVGC
EASTWARD.  NO STRONG UPR SUPPORT OR FRONTOGENESIS...SO ONLY
EXPECT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TEMPS CONTINUED AT OR SLIGHT
ABOVE NORMAL.

.BTV...NONE.

BELL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Caledonia

When
May 3, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Caledonia forecast zone
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
44.465, -72.102 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Windsor

When
May 3, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Windsor forecast zone
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER

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

More

Every storm in Vermont in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Vermont, 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: 5298765, 5298766.