Vermont, 2004

Flooding in Vermont, May 24, 2004

May 24, 2004 · NWS BTV · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

During the period of May 22rd through May 24th, a frontal system extended across New York into central New England. A storm system moved east along the front from the Great Lakes region east across New York and New England during Monday, May 24th with periods of steady rain.

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
$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.

During the period of May 22rd through May 24th, a frontal system extended across New York into central New England. A storm system moved east along the front from the Great Lakes region east across New York and New England during Monday, May 24th with periods of steady rain. Minor field and lowland flooding occurred along the Otter Creek. The river gauge in Center Rutland exceeded flood stage.

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 24, 2:29 AM EST, 7 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 24, 2:29 AM EST, 7 hours 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
330 AM MON MAY 24 2004

AREA OF STRATIFORM RAINFALL WITH SOME EMBEDDED THUNDER MOVED THROUGH
NORTHERN NEW YORK LATE LAST NIGHT...AND IS FINISHING UP IN VT NOW.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1/3 TO 1/5 INCH...WITH SOME LOCALIZED UP TO AN
INCH INDICATED ON RADAR ACROSS THE CENTRAL ADIRONDACKS AND CENTRAL
VT.

STATIONARY FRONT REMAINS TO THE SOUTH...WITH SERIES OF WAVES MOVING
ALONG THE FRONT. BETTER INSTABILITY IN WARMER AIR DOWN SOUTH...AS
EVIDENCED BY SEVERE WEATHER AND COPIOUS RAINFALL YESTERDAY. SOME
ELEVATED INSTABILITY OVER BTVS FORECAST AREA...RESULTING IN THE
OCCASIONAL THUNDER REPORT.

ETA IS THE MODEL OF CHOICE TODAY. ETA INITIALIZED ONGOING PRECIP
MUCH BETTER THEN THE GFS...WHICH PUT QPF FIELD FURTHER N AND WEST
THAN WHERE IT WAS ACTUALLY OCCURING.  GFS WAS ALSO THE ODD MODEL OUT
WHEN COMPARING EVOLUTION OF SURFACE LOW.

THIS FIRST WAVE ALONG THE STATIONARY FRONT WILL PULL NORTHEAST...AND
THE CURRENT BOUT OF PRECIP WILL TAPER OFF THIS MORNING. HOWEVER...A
SECOND SHORTWAVE TROUGH AT 500 MB WILL APPROACH THE REGION THIS
AFTERNOON...WITH DECENT SYNOPTIC SCALE UPWARD VERTICAL
MOTION...RESULTING IN MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. PRECIP CHANCES
TAPER OFF TONIGHT...AND TUESDAY SHOULD BE A DRY DAY AS A 500 MB
SHORT WAVE RIDGE PASSES..AND SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CROSSES THE
REGION.

MORE PRECIP CHANCES ON WEDNESDAY WITH APPROACHING WARM FRONT...AND
DIFLUENT UPPER FLOW.

&&

.BTV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

VT...NONE.
NY...NONE.

&&

HANSON
Hazardous weather outlook, May 24, 3:05 AM EST, 6 hours 55 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
405 AM EDT MON MAY 24 2004

NYZ026>031-034-035-087-VTZ001>012-016>019-250759-
CALEDONIA-EASTERN ADDISON-EASTERN CHITTENDEN-EASTERN CLINTON-
EASTERN ESSEX-EASTERN FRANKLIN-EASTERN RUTLAND-ESSEX-GRAND ISLE-
LAMOILLE-NORTHERN FRANKLIN-NORTHERN ST. LAWRENCE-ORANGE-ORLEANS-
SOUTHEASTERN ST. LAWRENCE-SOUTHERN FRANKLIN-
SOUTHWESTERN ST. LAWRENCE-WASHINGTON-WESTERN ADDISON-
WESTERN CHITTENDEN-WESTERN CLINTON-WESTERN ESSEX-WESTERN FRANKLIN-
WESTERN RUTLAND-WINDSOR-
405 AM EDT MON MAY 24 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT
AS WELL AS NORTHERN NEW YORK.

.DAY ONE...TODAY...

SHOWERS WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE REGION FROM THE WEST TODAY AND
TONIGHT. THERE IS THE CHANCE FOR SOME STRONG THUDNERSTORMS AND AREAS
OF HEAVY RAIN AS WELL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THE NEXT CHANCE FOR ANY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY OR TONIGHT. PLEASE
RELAY ANY REPORTS OF HEAVY RAINFALL IN A SHORT PERIOD OR TIME OR
SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON VERMONT.

MURRAY

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 Rutland

When
May 24, 10:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Eastern Rutland forecast zone
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.580, -73.037 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Western Rutland

When
May 24, 10:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Western Rutland forecast zone
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.580, -73.037 (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

More

Every storm in Vermont in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Vermont, May 2004

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: 5401399, 5401400.