Flood, Western Essex
- When
- March 21, 1:45 PM EST to 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Western Essex forecast zone
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 44.117, -73.773 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in New York, March 21, 2003
A storm system moved from the Missouri Valley on Thursday, March 20th northeast across the Ohio valley on Friday, March 21st, then continued northeast and weakened. This system resulted in rainfall (between 1/2 and 1 inch) on the 20th and 21st across the area, coupled with unusually mild weather.
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
- $1,000
- 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.
A storm system moved from the Missouri Valley on Thursday, March 20th northeast across the Ohio valley on Friday, March 21st, then continued northeast and weakened. This system resulted in rainfall (between 1/2 and 1 inch) on the 20th and 21st across the area, coupled with unusually mild weather. The resulting snowmelt resulted in ice jams on swollen rivers. Along the east branch of the AuSable River, from Keene to Upper Jay New York, minor field flooding was reported on the 21st.
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 Mar 21, 10:18 AM EST, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 10:18 AM EST, 3 hours 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT 1018 AM EST FRI MAR 21 2003 FLOOD WATCH TO REMAIN IN EFFECT TODAY. CALLS MADE TO STATE POLICE/EMERGENCY MANAGERS AROUND 900 AM INDICATED NO PROBLEMS AT THE MOMENT. TREND OVER THE PAST HOUR IN SOME AREAS HAS INDICATED LITTLE IN THE WAY OF ICE ON SOME OF THE SMALLER RIVERS AND WITH THE WARMER TEMPERATURES TODAY...SNOWMELT/RUNOFF SHOULD CONTINUE. HAVE ALREADY ISSUED A FLOOD STATEMENT TO TALK ABOUT AREAS OF CONCERN IN FRANKLIN...ADDISON...AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. GOING FORECAST OF HIGH TEMPERATURES GENERALLY IN THE 45 TO 50 DEGREE RANGE AND IN THE 50S OVER SOUTH CENTRAL VERMONT LOOKS REAL GOOD. DOWNSLOPING IS HELPING TO ERODE SOME OF THE LOW CLOUD COVER OVER THE AREA AND WILL MAKE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FIRST PERIOD TO REFLECT THIS. ALSO...WILL REMOVE ANY MENTION OF MORNING SPRINKLES OR LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS. REST OF FORECAST IN REAL GOOD SHAPE. FLOOD STATEMENT UNDER ALBFLSBTV ISSUED AT 1008 AM. UPDATED ZONES TO BE ISSUED NO LATER THAN 1030 AM. UPDATED FLOOD WATCH STATEMENT AND PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT REGARDING YESTERDAY/S RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO BE ISSUED NO LATER THAN 1100 AM. EVENSON .BTV...FLOOD WATCH TODAY NYZ026>031-034-035-VTZ001>012.
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 21, 4:36 AM EST, 9 hours 9 minutes before
NYZ026>031-034-035-VTZ001>012-221000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT 436M EST FRI MAR 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT AS WELL AS NORTHERN NEW YORK. .DAY ONE...TODAY LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TODAY...WITH LITTLE ACCUMULATIONS. A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT INTO EARLY EVENING...RIVERS MAY RISE DURING THE DAY FROM PREVIOUS DAYS RAINFALL. WARM TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL ALSO ASSIST IN FURTHER MELTING ANY RIVER ICE...THUS INCREASING THE CHANCES FOR ICE JAM FLOODING AS WELL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flooding in New York, March 21 to 28, 2003
- Flooding in New York, March 21 to 24, 2003
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, March 21 to 26, 2003
- Hail in New Jersey, March 21, 2003
- Lightning Strike in New York, March 21, 2003
- Flooding in Connecticut, March 21 to 23, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Virginia, March 21, 2003
- Hail in New Jersey, March 21, 2003
- Hail in New York, March 21, 2003
- Flooding in West Virginia, March 21 to 22, 2003
- Storm Surge in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2003
- Flood in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2003
More
Every storm in New York in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, March 2003
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: 5348948.