Damaging winds affected parts of central and northern Rhode Island, as strengthening low pressure tracked across northern New England and a strong cold front moved through the region. There were many reports of downed trees and power lines, especially in the higher elevations.
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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.
Damaging winds affected parts of central and northern Rhode Island, as strengthening low pressure tracked across northern New England and a strong cold front moved through the region. There were many reports of downed trees and power lines, especially in the higher elevations.
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 Dec 1, 11:45 AM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION TO HEADLINES NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 1145 AM EST WED DEC 1 2004 .UPDATE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... NEW 12Z ETA DOES NOT DEEPEN LOW AS RAPIDLY AS 00Z RUN AND UPSTREAM OBSERVATIONS VICINITY OF COLD FRONT AND BEHIND IT ARE ALL BELOW HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA. IN ADDITION...NEW 12Z ETA BUFKIT SOUNDINGS HAVE A WEAKER WIND FIELD THAN THE PREVIOUS MODEL RUN. FURTHERMORE...GIVEN WE HAVE ALREADY HAD TWO WIND EVENTS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS...MOST OF THE WEAKER TREE LIMBS AND DEBRIS HAVE COME DOWN. SO IN A NUTSHELL...WE WILL CONVERT/REPLACE THE HIGH WIND WATCH FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH A WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL ZONES. EXPECT FRONTAL PASSAGE AND ASSOCIATED ABRUPT WIND SHIFT AND STRONG WINDS TO BEGIN IN THE GREATER HARTFORD AREA BETWEEN 1 PM AND 2 PM...WORCESTER AND PROVIDENCE 2-3 PM...BOSTON AND MANCHESTER NH 3-4 PM AND CAPE COD AND NANTUCKET 4-5 PM. UPDATED THE AFTERNOON FORECAST TO REFLECT THESE DETAILS. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW. NOCERA ------------------------------------------------------------------ .LONG TERM (THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... FORECAST FOR THU LOOKS GOOD AS SYSTEM PULLS AWAY THU WITH SLOWLY DIMINISHING WINDS. MODELS SHOW A WEAK CLIPPER TYPE SYSTEM SCOOTING ACROSS GREAT LAKES AND NEW ENGLAND FRI. MODELS DIFFER ON STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM WITH GFS SHOWING A MORE VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE AND DEEPER MOISTURE FARTHER S INTO NEW ENGLAND THAN ETA. WE WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW GFS SOLUTION MORE CLOSELY DUE TO DEPTH OF UPPER TROUGH...WHICH IS ACTUALLY SIMILAR ON BOTH MODELS. THIS MEANS WE WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS FOR LATER THU NIGHT INTO FRI. THICKNESSES AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES SUGGEST SNOW SHOWERS FOR MOST OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND AT THE START...WHICH SHOULD TRANSITION TO RAIN SHOWERS FRI ABOUT AS FAR N AS MASS PIKE DUE TO LOW LEVEL WARMING. THESE TYPE OF SYSTEMS OFTEN PRODUCE LIGHT PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS DUE TO THEIR SPEED AND LACK OF A SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE SOURCE...AND THIS ONE WILL BE NO EXCEPTION. EXPECT 1-2 INCH AMOUNTS ACROSS SOUTHWEST NH AND NORTHERN MA (ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS)...AND PERHAPS A DUSTING (BEFORE THE CHANGE TO RAIN) IN NORTHERN CT/NORTHERN RI AND EASTERN MA. SURGE OF COLD ADVECTION FOLLOWS IN ITS WAKE FRI NIGHT...THEN GFS SHOWS ANOTHER FRONT ATTEMPTING TO CROSS NEW ENGLAND SAT. MOST OF DYNAMICS WITH THIS SYSTEM PASS WELL TO OUR N...SO FOR NOW WE WILL LEAVE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS AND HAVE NO MENTION IN TEXT FORECASTS. NO CHANGES MADE FOR SUN THROUGH TUE. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS WILL BECOME IFR QUICKLY THIS MORNING...AND LINGER INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON. AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES OFF THE COAST THIS EVENING...VFR CONDITIONS WILL RETURN BUT AT THE COAST OF STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS. && .MARINE... GALE WARNING POSTED FOR ALL WATERS THIS MORNING DUE TO EXPECTED STRONG WINDS. A FEW GUSTS UP TO 50 KT POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WINDS SHOULD START TO DROP BELOW GALE FORCE AROUND MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. IN THE LONGER TERM...WINDS AND SEAS GRADUALLY SUBSIDE THU BUT SHOULD REMAIN WITHIN SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CRITERIA. WEAK SYSTEM PASSING ACROSS NEW ENGLAND FRI WILL BE FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER ROUND OF SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WINDS AND SEAS DUE TO COLD ADVECTION. NO CHANGES MADE BEYOND FRI. && .HYDROLOGY... TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE EXPECTED TODAY WHICH WILL RESULT IN MINOR RISES ON SMALLER RIVERS AND STREAMS...AND SHOULD ALSO LEAD TO MINOR URBAN AND POOR DRAINAGE FLOODING. WE WILL UPDATE THE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT TO ADDRESS THIS. && .MISCELLANEOUS... THE WEEKLY NATIONAL WEATHER RADIO TONE ALERT TEST WAS NOT PERFORMED TODAY DUE TO THE RAIN/WIND EVENT. WE WILL RUN THE TEST TOMORROW MORNING (THURSDAY...2 DECEMBER) INSTEAD. && .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING ALL ZONES. MA...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING ALL ZONES. NH...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING ALL ZONES. RI...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING ALL ZONES. MARINE...GALE WARNING ALL WATERS THROUGH THIS EVENING. LONG TERM...JWD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 510 AM EST WED DEC 1 2004 CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001>008-021200- BARNSTABLE MA-BLOCK ISLAND RI-BRISTOL RI-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA- CHESHIRE NH-DUKES MA-EASTERN ESSEX MA-EASTERN FRANKLIN MA- EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-EASTERN HILLSBOROUGH NH- EASTERN KENT RI-EASTERN NORFOLK MA-EASTERN PLYMOUTH MA-HARTFORD CT- NANTUCKET MA-NEWPORT RI-NORTHERN BRISTOL MA-NORTHERN WORCESTER MA- NORTHWEST MIDDLESEX MA-NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI- SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA-SOUTHEAST PROVIDENCE RI-SOUTHERN BRISTOL MA- SOUTHERN PLYMOUTH MA-SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-SUFFOLK MA-TOLLAND CT- WASHINGTON RI-WESTERN AND CENTRAL HILLSBOROUGH NH-WESTERN ESSEX MA- WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA- WESTERN KENT RI-WESTERN NORFOLK MA-WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA-WINDHAM CT- 510 AM EST WED DEC 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE... MASSACHUSETTS EAST OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT...AND ALL OF RHODE ISLAND. .DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... STRONG TO PERHAPS DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...AS DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE TRACKS FROM THE EASTERN GREAT LAKES ACROSS NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND. A WIND ADVISORY CONTINUES IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO BETWEEN 25 AND 35 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 50 MPH THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION...A HIGH WIND WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENING AND COVERS FAR SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE...NORTHERN CONNECTICUT... NORTHWEST RHODE ISLAND...WESTERN AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS...AND THE CITY OF BOSTON AND ITS WESTERN SUBURBS. IN THESE LOCATIONS...WEST WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 60 MPH THIS EVENING...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND ON CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS. IF IT BECOMES MORE LIKELY THAT THESE WINDS WILL MATERIALIZE...HIGH WIND WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED LATER TODAY. GALE WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR ALL COASTAL WATERS. GUSTS MAY APPROACH STORM FORCE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY ON THE OUTER WATERS. WINDS WILL DIMINISH LATE TONIGHT. .DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SPOTTERS AND AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS SHOULD REPORT ANY WIND DAMAGE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AS WELL AS WIND GUSTS OVER 45 MPH AND RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 INCHES OR MORE. JWD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Rhode Island in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Rhode Island, December 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: 5429096, 5429097, 5429098.