Flood in Rhode Island
Every flood event the National Weather Service has filed in Rhode Island, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
The most significant on the map
The most significant 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
- 175
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 1
- Damage
- $93 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Flooding and High Wind in Rhode Island, March 13 to 21, 2010A stacked low pressure system (surface low and upper level low on top of each other) moved southeast of Nantucket, spreading rain across Southern New England. This resulted in widespread rainfall totals of three to six inches.
- Flooding in Rhode Island, March 29 to 31, 2010A low pressure system sat just south of Long Island for two days, bringing heavy rain to much of Southern New England during that time. A persistent southerly low level jet brought very moist air into the area, which resulted in high rainfall rates.
- 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.
- Flood and Heat in Rhode Island, July 20, 2013A pre-frontal trough moved into southern New England, providing lift for showers and thunderstorms to develop in a hot and humid atmosphere. In addition, CAPE up to 2000 J/kg and 30-40 kts of shear provided enough instability and shear for thunderstorms to become severe.
- 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.
- Flooding in Rhode Island, October 15, 2005A low pressure system interacted with a plume of tropical moisture as the low slowly moved parallel to the Long Island and south Massachusetts coasts, resulting in excessive rain and flooding across Rhode Island. Between 2.5 and 4.5 inches of rain fell from this event.
- 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.
- Flood and Lightning Strikes in Rhode Island, August 5, 2009A cold front moved across Southern New England into an unstable atmosphere, resulting in showers and thunderstorms forming along the front. Some of these storms became severe producing strong, damaging winds and frequent lightning strikes.
- Flooding and Coastal Flood in Rhode Island, April 15 to 17, 2007An unusually strong and slow moving coastal storm for mid April tracked to western Long Island Sound on April 16th before weakening slowly and drifting offshore.
- Flooding and Coastal Flood in Rhode Island, October 28 to 29, 2006Low pressure intensified as it tracked from the mid Atlantic states to New England. This system brought damaging winds to much of central and southern Rhode Island, where trained spotters and amateur radio operators reported many downed trees and power lines.
- Flooding and Damaging Winds in Rhode Island, August 12, 2016A mid level disturbance and an approaching cold front resulted in showers and thunderstorms developing over much of southern New England. Like the storms the previous day, frequent lightning accompanied these storms. In addition, wind damage and flooding occurred.
- 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.
- Flooding and Coastal Flood in Rhode Island, March 8 to 9, 2008A powerful low pressure system tracked through eastern New York spreading heavy rain and strong winds across Southern New England. Heavy rain coinciding with spring snowmelt contributed to river flooding, especially along the Connecticut River.
- Flood and Hail in Rhode Island, September 3, 2013A cold front moved through an unstable atmosphere across southern New England, triggering showers and thunderstorms across much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. There was enough shear and instability for some of these storms to become severe, producing damaging winds.
- Flood and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, March 8 to 10, 1998A powerful storm system moving slowly toward the northeast from the Ohio Valley to the eastern Great Lakes brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to Rhode Island, resulting in urban street flooding, basement flooding, and river flooding.
- Flood and High Wind in Rhode Island, October 29 to 30, 2017The remnants of Tropical Storm Phillipe merged with a mid-latitude system approaching the U.S. East Coast. This created an area of low pressure that moved north from the Carolinas through New York State on the 29th.
- Flooding and Heavy Rain in Rhode Island, February 13, 2008A low pressure system developed off the Mid-Atlantic coast and moved up the east coast southeast of Nantucket producing snow, rain, and ice across Southern New England.
- 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.
- Flooding and Damaging Winds in Rhode Island, July 22 to 23, 2016A cold front moved through southern New England and when coupled with the existing heat and humidity, resulted in showers and thunderstorms developing over much of the area late in the day and continuing into the evening and overnight hours.
- Flooding and High Wind in Rhode Island, October 22, 2014Low pressure moving up the east coast brought a soaking rain and strong winds to much of southern New England. In addition, both downed leaves from the storm and naturally fallen leaves from before the storm clogged storm drains which resulted in street flooding.
- 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.
- Flooding in Rhode Island, December 12, 2008While a major ice storm affected Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire, three to five inches of rain fell in Rhode Island resulting in small stream and some street flooding.
- 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.
- Flooding in Rhode Island, March 28 to 31, 2005Low pressure tracking south of New England brought 3 to 4 inches to much of Rhode Island, resulting in significant urban and poor drainage flooding.In Providence County, flooding was reported in the Olneyville section of Providence including routes 6 and 10.
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.