Flash Flood in Rhode Island
Every flash flood event the National Weather Service has filed in Rhode Island, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
The most significant on the map
The most significant flash flood episodes in Rhode Island.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 124
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 3
- Damage
- $3.7 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Rhode Island, June 24, 2008A slow moving cold front provided a focus for severe thunderstorms. These thunderstorms produced very heavy rain that resulted in flash flooding, hail, and damaging winds.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Rhode Island, August 18, 2023A high amplitude, negatively tilted trough moving across the Great Lakes and into New England along with cold and warm front provided strong forcing which resulted in flooding, wind damage, and 5 tornadoes.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Rhode Island, September 5 to 6, 2022A cold front stalled over southern New England causing very heavy rain and significant flash flooding before the front moved off the south coast during the evening. Rainfall amounts ranged from 7 to 11 inches in eastern Connecticut and the Providence metro area.
- Flash Flood and Flood in Rhode Island, March 22 to 24, 2001Minor to moderate flooding occurred along the Blackstone and Pawtuxet Rivers as a result of melting snow and heavy rainfall.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Rhode Island, September 2, 2013A nearly stationary warm front draped across southern New England, coupled with a very moist atmosphere, resulted in showers and thunderstorms across the area for the third day in a row.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Rhode Island, July 23, 2008A frontal system moved through southern New England with the warm front moving through first and increasing low level moisture. Then the cold front moved through providing a lifting mechanism for showers and thunderstorms to develop.
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, February 18, 1998A strong low pressure system that moved to the northeast along the Mid Atlantic coast and then passed southeast of Cape Cod brought heavy rainfall, isolated flash floods, and thunderstorms to mainly central and southern Rhode Island.
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, June 17, 2001Torrential rainfall associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison resulted in flash flooding throughout Providence County. In Foster, two roads were washed out when runoff carved gulches into the roadways. In Woonsocket, the foundations of two buildings were washed out.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Rhode Island, August 10, 2012A series of upper level disturbances rotated around a vertically stacked low pressure system in the Great Lakes. These provided a focus for showers and thunderstorms to develop across southern New England.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Rhode Island, September 13, 2023A frontal system brought a period of heavy rain, flash flooding, and embedded thunderstorms to southern New England from the morning to mid evening.
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, September 1, 2013An upper level disturbance moved over southern New England bringing showers and thunderstorms to the region. Precipitable water values over two inches indicated a very moist atmosphere; in addition, weak winds at the mid levels resulted in very slow moving storms.
- Flash Flood and Hail in Rhode Island, June 22, 2012A cold front moved through a hot and humid southern New England producing showers and thunderstorms. Many of these storms became severe, resulting in damaging winds, large hail, and some flash flooding.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Rhode Island, July 28, 2012Several areas of low pressure traveled along a stationary front stalled across Southern New England producing showers and a few thunderstorms. In addition, strong southerly flow brought in a very moist airmass with precipitable water values above two inches.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Rhode Island, July 1, 2009A stationary front stretched from Hartford, Connecticut across northern Rhode Island to southeast Massachusetts combined with an upper level disturbance to produce showers and thunderstorms across southern New England.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Rhode Island, March 30, 2014A stacked low pressure system passed south and east of southern New England bringing widespread rainfall to much of the region. This system was anomalously moist with precipitable waters two to three standard deviations above normal for late March.
- Flash Flooding in Rhode Island, September 2, 2021On Sept. 1, Tropical Depression Ida tracked northeasward from the central Appalachians and arrived in southern New England late in the day as a remnant low.
- Flash Flooding in Rhode Island, September 15, 2005An approaching cold front interacted with a very humid airmass, which was in place across Southern New England, producing locally heavy downpours that caused flash flooding across Rhode Island during the late morning and early afternoon hours of 15 September 2005.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Rhode Island, July 4, 2023A mid level trough and a quasi-stationary boundary across Southern New England led to widespread flash flooding in the late hours of the 3rd into the 4th.
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Rhode Island, August 13, 2003A severe thunderstorm downed trees and wires in East Greenwich, and flooded South Road, making it impassable for a time. Another severe thunderstorm downed a tree and large branches on Barnes Street in Smithfield.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Rhode Island, September 8, 2011A slow moving cold front moved across Southern New England and stalled just south of the area. This front was instrumental in bringing tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee into New England.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Rhode Island, July 14, 2020A negatively tilted trough with anomalously cold air aloft moved into southern New England, producing severe thunderstorms and localized flooding during the afternoon.
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Rhode Island, August 14, 2005Showers and thunderstorms developed across northern Rhode Island in a hot and humid airmass ahead of a weak cold front during the evening hours of 14 August 2005.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Rhode Island, August 23, 2022A stationary front across Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts provided the focus for heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms. Four to six inches of rain fell in the greater Providence area, with a max of 7.44 inches in Rehoboth, MA.
- Flash Flood in Rhode Island, July 14, 2010Slow moving thunderstorms produced rainfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour, resulting in urban flash flooding around Providence.
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, May 29, 2001A cluster of thunderstorms dumped torrential rainfall and small hail in a narrow corridor of Glocester, causing a washout at the intersection of Route 102 and Snake Hill Road.
More
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.