Flood — Suffolk, Massachusetts

2010-03-14 to 2010-03-15 · near Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Heavy rains resulted in flooding across much of Boston. This flooding resulted in damage to the collections at both the Bostonian Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society. In addition, several roads in Dorchester and Revere were closed. A portion of the MBTA Green line was closed between Fenway Park and Kenmore for several hours on Monday due to a flooded tunnel. A portion of the MBTA Red line was closed between Ashmont and Fields Corner because of flooded tracks. Passengers were transported by bus.

Wider weather episode

A 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. In eastern Massachusetts, a strong southeasterly low level jet pumped ample moisture into the area, resulting in rainfall totals on the order of six to ten inches. This resulted in major flooding across eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including small stream, urban, and poor drainage flooding. In addition, the Concord River at Lowell, the Shawsheen River at Wilimington, and the Pawtuxet River at Cranston reached record flood stages within two to four days of the rain. The Governor of Massachusetts declared a state of emergency and this was followed by a federal disaster declaration for seven Massachusetts counties.

Strong winds associated with the low pressure system and the low level jet affected both the east and south coasts, resulting in numerous downed trees and wires and some minor structural damage to a few buildings.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.3662, -71.0623)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 217955. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.