Flooding in Connecticut, October 8 to 9, 2005

Name: Flooding in Connecticut, October 8 to 9, 2005
Start: 2005-10-08T10:15
End: 2005-10-09T18:45
Location: Connecticut

October 8 to 9, 2005 · NWS OKX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

S. Coast and moved slowly north as a large area of high pressure off the New England Coast remained nearly stationary.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 OKX wrote it up.

As a cold front moved slowly east, a wave of low pressure developed along the Southeast U.S. Coast and moved slowly north as a large area of high pressure off the New England Coast remained nearly stationary. Abundant moisture from the remnants of tropical system Tammy over the Southeast also interacted with and converged north along this front.Rain moved north and developed across the region during late Friday afternoon, October 7th. As the wave of low pressure moved north along the front, periods of heavy rain spread north across the region Friday night through Saturday, October 8th. Rain ended from west to east during Sunday, October 9th as the low moved northeast of the region.The heaviest rain fell across interior sections of Southwest Connecticut, mainly across the higher terrain of Northern Fairfield and Northern New Haven Counties. Because of dry antecedent conditions, most of the rainfall was absorbed, although run off did increase as the event continued. Rainfall amounts ranged from 1.60 inches at Groton Airport in Southeast CT to 7.15 inches at New Fairfied in Northern Fairfield County.Here are selected rainfall amounts in hundredths of an inch for:Fairfield County - from 2.78 inches at Sikorsky Airport in Bridgeport to 7.15 inches at New Fairfield.New Haven County - from 3.41 inches at Tweed Airport in New Haven to 5.07 inches in Meriden.New London County - from 1.61 inches at Groton Airport to 3.13 inches at Norwich.Maximum hourly rainfall rates ranged from 0.57 at Danbury Airport to 0.95 at Meriden.Urban flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas occurred throughout the region.The Quinnipiac River at Wallingford was above its' flood stage of 8.0 feet from 2 am EDT through 7:45 pm EDT on October 9th. The river crested at 9.03 feet at 4:45 am EDT on October 9th. Other small rivers and streams, such as the Naugatuck River at Beacon Falls and Waterbury, experienced significant within bank rises.

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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 8, 9:45 AM EST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 8, 9:45 AM EST, 30 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 8, 3:09 AM EST, 7 hours 6 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY
409 AM EDT SAT OCT 8 2005

CTZ005>012-NJZ002>006-011-NYZ067>081-090815-
NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX-
NORTHERN NEW LONDON-SOUTHERN FAIRFIELD-SOUTHERN NEW HAVEN-
SOUTHERN MIDDLESEX-SOUTHERN NEW LONDON-WESTERN PASSAIC-BERGEN-
EASTERN PASSAIC-ESSEX-HUDSON-UNION-ORANGE-PUTNAM-ROCKLAND-
NORTHERN WESTCHESTER-SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-
BRONX-RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)-KINGS (BROOKLYN)-QUEENS-NASSAU-
NORTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-NORTHEASTERN SUFFOLK-SOUTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-
SOUTHEASTERN SUFFOLK-
409 AM EDT SAT OCT 8 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
CONNECTICUT...NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST NEW YORK.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING.

A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL
INTERACT WITH THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM TAMMY TO PRODUCE A
WIDESPREAD...HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES WILL CAUSE WIDESPREAD URBAN...SMALL
STREAM...AND POOR DRAINAGE FLOODING

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

THE FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION NEEDED FOR FLOODING AND EXCESSIVE RAINFALL
REPORTS.

ANZ330-335-338-350-353-355-370-090815-
LONG ISLAND SOUND EAST OF NEW HAVEN CT/PORT JEFFERSON NY-
LONG ISLAND SOUND WEST OF NEW HAVEN CT/PORT JEFFERSON NY-
NEW YORK HARBOR-MORICHES INLET NY TO MONTAUK POINT NY OUT 20 NM-
FIRE ISLAND INLET NY TO MORICHES INLET NY OUT 20 NM-
SANDY HOOK NJ TO FIRE ISLAND INLET NY OUT 20 NM-
WATERS FROM MONTAUK POINT NY TO SANDY HOOK NJ FROM 20 TO 40 NM-
409 AM EDT SAT OCT 8 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF ATLANTIC
COASTAL WATERS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ROUGH SEAS ON THE OCEAN
WATERS.

OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR ROUGH SEAS ON THE OCEAN
WATERS THROUGH THE PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

NO SPOTTER ACTIVATION NEEDED.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 8, 9:26 AM EST, 49 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Northern Fairfield

When: October 8, 10:15 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Fairfield forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.767, -73.217

Flood, Southern Fairfield

When: October 8, 10:15 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Fairfield forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.467, -72.950

Flood, Northern New Haven

When: October 8, 10:15 AM EST to October 9, 6:45 PM EST
Where: Northern New Haven forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.443, -72.965 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Southern New Haven

When: October 8, 10:15 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Southern New Haven forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.443, -72.965 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Northern Middlesex

When: October 8, 10:15 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.483, -72.517

Flood, Southern Middlesex

When: October 8, 10:15 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.483, -72.117

Flood, Northern New London

When: October 8, 10:15 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Northern New London forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.504, -72.101 (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 Connecticut in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Connecticut, October 2005

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5481717, 5481718, 5481719, 5481720, 5481721, 5481722, 5481723.