Flash Flood — Washington, Vermont

2011-05-26 to 2011-05-27 · near Montpelier Jct, Washington, Vermont

Event narrative

Devastating flash flooding occurred in the towns of Berlin, Plainfield, Cabot, Marshfield, Montpelier, and Northfield. The Stevens Branch flooded much of downtown Barre, and swift water rescues were conducted for people trapped by flood waters. Many homes and businesses were flooded along Route 302 in Barre. The River Run Manor mobile home park was flooded, displacing approximately 200 persons. Multiple town roads were severely damaged, and Routes 302, 2, 14, 62, and 63 were closed in and around Barre. Plainfield suffered many road washouts, and roads were damaged in Northfield. The Winooski flooded sections of Route 2 in East Montpelier, damaging businesses.

Wider weather episode

A surface low as well as upper atmospheric energy traveled along a quasi-stationary boundary across northern New York and Vermont during the afternoon and evening of May 26th. The air mass ahead of this boundary was moderately to largely unstable and the combination lead to numerous reports of damaging winds and very large hail (up to 2.5 inches in diameter). Some 25,000+ customers lost power during these storms.

In addition, several rounds of thunderstorms traversed the same areas in central Vermont near the Route 2 corridor between Middlesex and Lunenburg. The end result of 3 to 5+ inches of rainfall and severe flash flooding and resultant river flooding as well.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.2581, -72.6292)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 310141. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.