Tropical Storm — Block Island, Rhode Island

2021-08-22 · Block Island, Rhode Island

Event narrative

Winds gusted to between 60 and 70 mph for a few hours during the mid to late morning. At 859 AM EST, a mesonet site at New Shoreham recorded a peak gust to 67 mph. At 932 AM EST, a mesonet site at the Block Island Jetty recorded a peak wind gust to 69 mph.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Henri made landfall in southwest Rhode Island around noon on August 22nd, then moved slowly northwestward and westward across northern Connecticut and weakened. Henri brought strong wind gusts and flash flooding. The strongest gusts -- to 70 mph -- occurred along the Rhode Island coast. The worst flash flooding occurred in northeast Connecticut.

As the remnants of Henri moved eastward across southern New England on August 23rd, it spawned three tornadoes and a waterspout in MA and also it caused some renewed flooding.

The highest rainfall totals over the two-day period ranged from 5 to 6 inches in Hartford and Tolland Counties in northern Connecticut and in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties in western Massachusetts.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 979349. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.