Flood — Hillsborough, New Hampshire

2006-05-13 to 2006-05-15 · near Countywide, Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Wider weather episode

Heavy rainfall, most of it falling over a 100 hour period, caused widespread flooding across much of southern New Hampshire, where small streams and main stem rivers rose out of their banks. Major flooding of a number of small streams and main stem rivers occurred in Hillsborough County. The Governor of New Hampshire declared a State of Emergency for a time during this event, and the President declared major disaster status for those affected. At some locations, this was the worst flooding recorded since the 1938 Hurricane and the great rain/snowmelt floods in March 1936.The focus of heavy rain shifted to southern New Hampshire late Friday night through Monday morning with Hillsborough County impacted the greatest. Storm rainfall totaled 8 to 12 inches.The event prompted the evacuation of several thousand people in southern New Hampshire and numerous road closures. A number of schools were closed for several days due to the flooding. For those main stem rivers in southern New Hampshire with long periods of record, this event featured the highest crests since the 1938 Hurricane and 1936 heavy rain/snowmelt floods. The Piscataquog River at Goffstown recorded its third highest crest on record. The Merrimack River at Goffs Falls reached the third highest crest on record. As an interesting footnote to this event, this episode now stands as the most significant flood event on the main stem Merrimack River since the advent of Flood Control in the basin.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5513528. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.