Heavy rainfall associated with the remains of Ivan caused flash flooding in Franklin and Hampshire Counties in western Massachusetts. Storm totals of 3 to 5 inches were widely observed and caused rapid rises on the Deerfield and Green Rivers in Franklin County.
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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.
The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.
Heavy rainfall associated with the remains of Ivan caused flash flooding in Franklin and Hampshire Counties in western Massachusetts. Storm totals of 3 to 5 inches were widely observed and caused rapid rises on the Deerfield and Green Rivers in Franklin County. The two rivers caused minor flooding of their respective low lying areas. In Hampshire County, a trained spotter reported several small brooks out of their banks which flooded low lying areas and caused minor damage. No injuries were reported.
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 Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 18, 2:34 AM EST, 7 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 334 AM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004 ...FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF INTERIOR SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TODAY... .SHORT TERM (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... COLD FRONT IS SLOWLY PUSHING S THROUGH NEW ENGLAND AND WAS LOCATED FROM NORTHWEST CT INTO CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MA. ETA/GFS ARE SIMILAR IN BRINGING IT INTO CT...RI AND SE MA THIS MORNING BEFORE DROPPING IT FARTHER S THIS AFTERNOON. REGIONAL RADAR LOOP SHOWS AN IMPRESSIVE BAND OF RAIN ON THE COLD SIDE OF THE BOUNDARY...WHERE VERY STRONG LOW LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS IS COMBINING WITH DEEP MOISTURE AND DIVERGENCE ALOFT. THIS SYSTEM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING EXCESSIVE RAINFALL TO OUR W IN PA AND UPSTATE NY...AND GIVEN FACT THAT THESE DYNAMICS SHIFT INTO SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND THIS MORNING...WE STILL THINK MANY LOCATIONS WILL RECEIVE BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES OF RAIN WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR 5 INCHES IN A FEW SPOTS. A FLOOD WATCH IS BEING ISSUED FOR TODAY AND WILL INCLUDE SOUTHWEST NH...WESTERN AND CENTRAL MA...AND NORTHERN CT. RAINFALL OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WITH LOCALLY AS MUCH AS 5 INCHES MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALLER RIVERS AND STREAMS IN THESE AREAS PER GUIDANCE VALUES...THOUGH WE HAVE A BIT MORE BREATHING ROOM IN NORTHERN CT. A PORTION OF THIS AREA ALREADY RECEIVED UP TO AN INCH OF RAIN FRIDAY...AND WE ARE ALREADY SEEING EXCESSIVE RAINS UPSTREAM WHICH WILL SHIFT INTO OUR WESTERN AND NORTHERN ZONES EARLY THIS MORNING. THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM FOR RI AND EASTERN MA WHERE VALUES ARE HIGHER...SO WE WILL UPDATE THE FLOOD STATEMENT FOR THESE LOCATIONS. MAINSTEM RIVERS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN WITHIN THEIR BANKS. TREND OF CURRENT FORECAST REMAINS INTACT...WITH SHOWERS PERHAPS LINGERING IN SOUTHEAST MA EARLY THIS EVENING BEFORE CLEARING SETS IN FROM N TO S TONIGHT. .LONG TERM (SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY)... HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS SOUTHEAST CANADA AND THE GREAT LAKES HEADS TOWARD SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND SUNDAY. THIS HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO SETTLE OVER THE MID ATLANTIC AND OHIO VALLEY BY TUESDAY. WHILE NOT DIRECTLY OVERHEAD...THIS SYSTEM WILL BE CLOSE ENOUGH TO DOMINATE OUR WEATHER ANY WAY FOR MOST OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. A BACKDOOR COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO APPROACH SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND FROM THE NORTHEAST THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...PROVIDING AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS AT LEAST. TEMPERATURE WISE...IT WILL BE LESS HUMID AND COOLER THAN IT HAS BEEN RECENTLY. STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION SUNDAY SHOULD ENSURE THIS IS THE COLDEST DAY DURING THIS PERIOD. EVEN AS WE APPROACH AUTUMN NEXT WEEK...THE SUN IS STILL STRONG ENOUGH TO REBOUND TEMPERATURES MONDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES LOOK REASONABLE...SO WILL NOT STRAY TOO FAR. && .AVIATION... IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TODAY WITH THE HEAVIER RAINFALL EXPECTED INTO EARLY AFTERNOON. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE TO MVFR AT ALL TERMINALS LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WITH RAPID IMPROVEMENT TO VFR THIS EVENING. && .MARINE... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES WILL BE HEADLINED FOR ALL WATERS TODAY AS N TO NE WINDS INCREASE RAPIDLY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT THIS MORNING... THEN ANOTHER SURGE OF 20 TO 30KT GUSTS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT AS COLD ADVECTION GETS UNDERWAY AND LAPSE RATES STEEPEN DRAMATICALLY OVER THE WARMER WATER. MODEL SOUNDINGS LOOK MARGINAL TO REACH GALE WARNING CRITERIA ON THE OUTER WATERS. IN THE LONGER TERM SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...SOUTH SWELLS FROM TROPICAL STORM JEANNE SHOULD IMPACT THE SOUTH COASTAL AND OUTER WATERS SUNDAY AND MONDAY. THESE SWELLS SHOULD SUBSIDE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. WINDS COULD APPROACH 25 KT SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...THE DECREASE TO LESS THAN 15 KT TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. && .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...FLOOD WATCH TODAY CTZ002>004. MA...FLOOD WATCH TODAY MAZ002>005-008>012-026. NH...FLOOD WATCH TODAY NHZ011-012-015. RI...NONE. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ALL WATERS. SHORT TERM...JWD LONG TERM...BELK
The Albany radar (KENX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:12 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Deerfield and Green Rivers
Lowland flooding
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Massachusetts in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, September 2004
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: 5423985, 5423986.