High Wind — Washington, Rhode Island

2024-01-13 · Washington, Rhode Island

Event narrative

A spotter in Westerly reported a wind gust of 65 mph at 4:00 AM EST. At the Westerly Airport an airplane hangar was severely damaged at 6:30 AM EST. In North Kingstown at 6:38 AM EST there were trees down across the road on Fletcher Rd. There was also scattered tree damage along Shady Lea Rd and Congdon Hill Rd. In North Kingstown at 7:11 AM EST on Rt 4 there was a large tree down on a car with no injuries. There was a large tree down on West Main St and on Wires Post Rd. In Narragansett at 7:52 AM EST there were wires down on High St and Allan Ave. In Hope Valley at 8:20 AM EST a tree was down on Lawton Foster Rd.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system over the southern Plains strengthened significantly as it reached the eastern Great Lakes. This placed New England on the warm side of the storm with strong SE winds and rain instead of snow. This lead to widespread river flooding and coastal flooding on both the south and east coasts of southern New England. The heaviest rain fell over eastern CT, RI, and eastern MA with totals of 1 to 3 inches which added to already saturated ground from previous storms. Along the coast, a storm surge of 2 to 3 feet led to minor to moderate coastal flooding and additional beach erosion in the same areas that were impacted from the previous storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1148370. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.