A mild and humid air mass was in place over northwestern Connecticut during the early morning hours on Sunday, September 11th. A cold front was crossing through the region around sunrise and a potent line of thunderstorms accompanied the passage of this boundary.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 ALY wrote it up.
A mild and humid air mass was in place over northwestern Connecticut during the early morning hours on Sunday, September 11th. A cold front was crossing through the region around sunrise and a potent line of thunderstorms accompanied the passage of this boundary. Some of these storms were severe, producing damaging winds to trees and power lines across northern parts of Litchfield County.
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 Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 11, 5:43 AM EST, 1 hour 51 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albany NY 643 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016 .SYNOPSIS... Cooler, drier and breezy conditions are expected today. Then a period of very tranquil weather is in the forecast through Tuesday. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... Line of strong thunderstorms from the Lake George Saratoga region through the central Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys into the eastern Catskills. It seems the low level forcing is helping the line of storms to develop and extend southward. Based on observations, including some in the NY state mesonet, any winds associated with the storms are peaking around 30 or 35 mph as we are at the cool part of the day and the stronger winds aloft are not mixing down much. Still keeping an eye out for any isolated stronger winds in the storms. Trailing band of rain will also track through our area this morning and the line of deeper cloudiness is tracking east quickly. So, there should be some clearing by afternoon with breezy winds. It will be interesting to see how much we can warm once the clearing occurs with the strong cold advection occurring. Adjusted rain chances, temperatures and sky cover through this morning. The sun and wind should enhance mixing once the clouds exit. Highs in the mid to upper 70s, some lower to mid 80s south and around 70 north. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... High pressure builds into the region tonight through Monday night and then begins to build east Tuesday. Low temperatures will ne in the 40s to lower 50s both tonight and Monday night with some upper 30s southern Adirondacks. Winds should be light as high pressure centers itself overhead Monday and Tuesday, just beginning to build east on Tuesday. The sun should be strong but with the core of the coolest air over our region, highs in the mid to upper 70s Monday, with near 80 south and around 70 north. Highs Tuesday with slight warm advection and light southwest boundary layer flow, in the upper 70s to mid 80s but mid 70s northern areas. The initial approach of the next system could bring some clouds and isolated showers to the southern Adirondacks late Tuesday night. Lows Tuesday night in the upper 50s to lower 60s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... The period starts out on Wednesday with a cold front and associated upper level trough axis approaching from the eastern Great Lakes and will be on our doorstep at 12Z Wednesday. This system will track southeast across the region during the day Wednesday, bringing showers. Not much instability noted in the model guidance so will continue with persistence and mention just slight chance of thunder. A few showers may linger into the early evening, before the cold front and upper trough axis shift well south and east of our area. Then a cool and dry air mass will build across the region Wednesday night through Friday, as a sprawling area of surface high pressure takes residence across the northeast CONUS. Temperatures will be seasonably cool and even slightly below normal, which is quite a change from the significant warmth we have been experiencing so far this September. The next chance of showers and arrives either Saturday or Saturday night depending on timing of a low pressure system and frontal boundary approaching from the Midwest and Great Lakes. Timing of clouds moving in associated with this system will have an impact on temperatures for Saturday as well. For now will mention highs mainly in the 70s. && .AVIATION /12Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... A broken line of thunderstorms has re-developed across eastern NY this morning just ahead of a cold front moving eastward. Expecting the broken line of storms to pass through the terminals between 11Z-13Z. There could be a brief period of gusty winds to 30 kt, IFR conditions and brief downpours. Have mention of 1-hour tempo groups to account for the passage of the storms. After the cold front and its associated convection pushes through this morning, conditions will rapidly improve with clouds scouring out by early afternoon. Winds will initially be south-southwest around 8-12 kt, then shift to the west and eventually northwest, increasing to around 12-15 kt by late morning, with gusts around 25 kt through much of the daylight hours. Winds will decrease to around 5 kt or less after dark. Outlook... Monday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Tuesday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Tuesday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Wednesday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Wednesday Night: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Thursday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Thursday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Friday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. && .FIRE WEATHER... Cooler, drier and breezy conditions are expected today. Then a period of very tranquil weather is in the forecast through Tuesday. Relative humidity values will drop to 40 to 65 percent this afternoon, recover to 80 to 100 percent tonight, and drop to 35 to 45 percent on Monday. Winds will shift to west and northwest this morning at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph, northwest at 5 to 15 mph tonight, and west around 5 mph on Monday. && .HYDROLOGY... Showers and thunderstorms this morning will bring between a tenth and half inch of rain the areas along and north of the Mohawk Valley and northern Berkshires this morning. Up to a tenth of an inch of rain is expected south of the Mohawk River and southern Berkshires, including northwestern Connecticut. Dry weather is then expected to return later today and last at least through Tuesday. For details on specific area rivers and lakes, including observed and forecast river stages and lake elevations, please visit the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service /AHPS/ graphs on our website. && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && SYNOPSIS...NAS NEAR TERM...NAS SHORT TERM...NAS LONG TERM...JPV AVIATION...JPV FIRE WEATHER...NAS HYDROLOGY...NAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 427 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016 CTZ001-013-MAZ001-025-NYZ032-033-038>043-047>054-058>061-063>066- 082>084-VTZ013>015-121100- NORTHERN LITCHFIELD-SOUTHERN LITCHFIELD-NORTHERN BERKSHIRE- SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE-NORTHERN HERKIMER-HAMILTON-SOUTHERN HERKIMER- SOUTHERN FULTON-MONTGOMERY-NORTHERN SARATOGA-NORTHERN WARREN- NORTHERN WASHINGTON-SCHOHARIE-WESTERN SCHENECTADY- EASTERN SCHENECTADY-SOUTHERN SARATOGA-WESTERN ALBANY-EASTERN ALBANY- WESTERN RENSSELAER-EASTERN RENSSELAER-WESTERN GREENE-EASTERN GREENE- WESTERN COLUMBIA-EASTERN COLUMBIA-WESTERN ULSTER-EASTERN ULSTER- WESTERN DUTCHESS-EASTERN DUTCHESS-NORTHERN FULTON-SOUTHEAST WARREN- SOUTHERN WASHINGTON-BENNINGTON-WESTERN WINDHAM-EASTERN WINDHAM- 427 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWESTERN CONNECTICUT...WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS...EAST CENTRAL NEW YORK...EASTERN NEW YORK AND SOUTHERN VERMONT. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS MORNING WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS TO 30 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
750 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
MAZ001-VTZ013>015-111215-
NORTHERN BERKSHIRE-BENNINGTON-EASTERN WINDHAM-WESTERN WINDHAM-
750 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHEASTERN
BERKSHIRE...SOUTHEASTERN BENNINGTON AND WINDHAM COUNTIES...
AT 750 AM EDT...RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED
ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CHESTER TO 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF
WILMINGTON TO NEAR CHESHIRE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 35 MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THESE STORMS...AND MAY
CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.
LAT...LON 4308 7244 4305 7247 4300 7244 4295 7253
4288 7255 4277 7252 4277 7249 4273 7246
4274 7302 4270 7302 4270 7295 4267 7300
4264 7295 4249 7298 4255 7316 4257 7333
4295 7290 4323 7272 4323 7243
TIME...MOT...LOC 1150Z 278DEG 32KT 4324 7261 4294 7280 4257 7309
KSLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
812 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM TSTM WND DMG BRICK TAVERN 42.27N 73.72W
09/11/2016 COLUMBIA NY TRAINED SPOTTER
6 TREES DOWN
&&
EVENT NUMBER ALY1602092
SNDPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
817 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM TSTM WND DMG 1 NNE BRICK TAVERN 42.29N 73.71W
09/11/2016 COLUMBIA NY AMATEUR RADIO
TREES DOWN AT COLUMBIA COUNTY AIRPORT
&&
EVENT NUMBER ALY1602093
SNDSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
819 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
VTZ015-111245-
EASTERN WINDHAM-
819 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT EASTERN WINDHAM COUNTY...
AT 819 AM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER GUILFORD
CENTER...OR NEAR BRATTLEBORO...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.
WIND GUSTS OF 50 TO 55 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
THIS STORM WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF EASTERN WINDHAM
COUNTY...INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:
BARTONSVILLE...DUMMERSTON CENTER...NAULAHKA...EAST PUTNEY
STATION...GUILFORD...NORTH WESTMINSTER... WESTMINSTER
STATION...ATHENS...EAST DUMMERSTON AND HADLEY FIELD.
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY CAUSE
LOCALIZED FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.
LAT...LON 4308 7244 4305 7247 4300 7244 4300 7246
4297 7247 4295 7253 4292 7252 4288 7255
4281 7254 4278 7251 4277 7252 4277 7249
4273 7246 4273 7268 4313 7259 4323 7255
4323 7243 4315 7246 4312 7243
TIME...MOT...LOC 1219Z 273DEG 39KT 4277 7259
KSLSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
829 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
CTZ001-013-111300-
NORTHERN LITCHFIELD-SOUTHERN LITCHFIELD-
829 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT CENTRAL LITCHFIELD COUNTY...
AT 829 AM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NEW
PRESTON...OR 9 MILES NORTH OF NEW MILFORD...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
LITCHFIELD AROUND 840 AM EDT.
THOMASTON AND NORTHWEST HARWINTON AROUND 850 AM EDT.
TERRYVILLE AROUND 855 AM EDT.
OTHER LOCATIONS IMPACTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE WRIGHTVILLE...
HARWINTON...NORTHVILLE...TOWN HILL...NEPAUG...EAST
CORNWALL...CORNWALL BRIDGE POTTERY...PLYMOUTH GREEN...UPPER MERRYALL
AND NEWFIELD.
LAT...LON 4162 7344 4181 7346 4189 7294 4185 7295
4184 7294 4183 7294 4181 7295 4180 7302
4164 7298
TIME...MOT...LOC 1229Z 262DEG 39KT 4172 7336
KSLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
832 AM EDT SUN SEP 11 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0758 AM TSTM WND DMG CAREY CORNER 42.37N 73.34W
09/11/2016 BERKSHIRE MA AMATEUR RADIO
TREES DOWN.
&&
EVENT NUMBER ALY1602094
SNDThe Albany radar (KENX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:32 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and wires were downed in Salisbury due to thunderstorm winds.
Trees and wires were downed in Torrington due to thunderstorm winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Connecticut in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, September 2016
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: 654813, 654814.