Flooding in Vermont, November 20, 2003

Name: Flooding in Vermont, November 20, 2003
Start: 2003-11-20T08:40
End: 2003-11-20T12:00
Location: Vermont

November 20, 2003 · NWS BTV · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A storm system moved across southern New England on on Thursday, November 20th. Heavy rain fell across Vermont with minor flooding of low lying areas in Chittenden county.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: $2,000
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 across southern New England on on Thursday, November 20th. Heavy rain fell across Vermont with minor flooding of low lying areas in Chittenden county. In particular, Indian Brook flooded in the Essex Junction area. Rainfall across the county was generally between 1 1/2 and 2 inches.

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 Nov 20, 3:42 AM EST, 4 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 20, 3:42 AM EST, 4 hours 58 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
342 AM EST THU NOV 20 2003

CURRENTLY....LARGE SWATH OF MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY HEAVY RAINFALL
CONTINUES ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. MANY AREAS HAVE
ALREADY RECEIVED BETWEEN ONE AND TWO INCHES OF QPF ALREADY WHICH MAY
LEAD TO SCATTERED FLOODING CONCERNS LATER TODAY...SEE BELOW.
OTHERWISE TEMPERATURES HAVE SETTLED BACK GENERALLY IN THE LOW TO MID
40S AREA WIDE.

TODAY...SHARP MID TO UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AFFECTING AREA WITH
AFOREMENTIONED RAINFALL TO CLOSE OFF JUST SOUTH OF REGION LATER
TODAY AND SINK SLOWLY SOUTHWARD. THIS PROCESS WILL ACT TO NEGATIVELY
TILT TROUGH AND FGEN/VORTICITY PATTERN...THUS SLOWING PRECIP SHIELD
DOWN ABOUT 6 HRS OR SO. THIS COULD BE CRITICAL IN DETERMINING THE
MAGNITUDE OF ANY FLOODING THREAT. EXCELLENT 850-700 HPA FGEN AND
BNDRY LYR CONVERGENCE COMBINED WITH DEEP SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE
CONNECTION AND SIGNIFICANT SE LOW LEVEL JET DYNAMICS ALL FAVOR
AFOREMENTIONED MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT. AT THIS TIME IT
APPEARS NORTHERN NEW YORK ZONES OUT OF THE WOODS SO TO SPEAK...WITH
AXIS OF HEAVIER QPF FALLING JUST EAST OF THIS REGION. FURTHER EAST
SITUATION NOT AS CLEAR CUT...ESP WHEN CONSIDERING MELTING HIGH
COUNTRY SNOWPACK AND LINGERING MORNING RAINFALL. THUS WILL MAINTAIN
FLOOD WATCH UNTIL EARLY EVENING VT ZONES.

TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY...WEATHER PATTERN CALMS DOWN LATER TONIGHT...AS
SFC HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA COMBINES WITH MID TO UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE BUILDING NORTHWARD FROM THE SOUTHERN U.S. WITH TODAY/S
RAINFALL AND CLEARING SKIES TONIGHT...PATCHY FOG A GOOD BET.
TEMPERATURES TO STAY RELATIVELY MILD...BUT WILL UNDERCUT MAV MINS
SOMEWHAT TONIGHT DUE TO RADIATIONAL EFFECTS.

FRIDAY NT ONWARDS...NICE STRETCH OF WEATHER CONTINUES INTO EARLY
NEXT WEEK...AS STRONG SOUTHEASTERN U.S. ANTICYCLONE AMPLIFIES
NORTHWARD IN RESPONSE TO POTENT SHORTWAVE TROUGH EXITING NE OUT OF
THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES. TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE
SEASONAL NORMS WITH NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION NOT AFFECTING AREA
UNTIL NEXT TUESDAY.

&&

.BTV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
VT...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 7 PM TODAY VTZ002>012-016>019.

PUBLIC...JMG
AVIATION...SLW

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Eastern Chittenden

When: November 20, 8:40 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Chittenden forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 44.461, -73.081 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Western Chittenden

When: November 20, 8:40 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Western Chittenden forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 44.461, -73.081 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Vermont in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Vermont, November 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: 5330884, 5330885.