Record Precipitation Totals from the Coastal New England Rainstorm of 20–21 October 1996

Abstract

This paper analyses the 20?21 October 1996 rainstorm along the coastal zone of New England in terms of its synoptic setting and its temporal and spatial patterns, and assesses its recurrence interval. The event was primarily generated by an intense cutoff low aloft, with an associated frontal boundary at the surface, both of which slowly drifted across New England. Storm rainfall totals ranged as high as 488 mm, which fell just short of the all-time greatest storm event ever recorded in New England, but statewide 1-day precipitation records were set in Maine and New Hampshire. Recurrence interval analysis revealed that this event was in gross excess of a 100-yr rainfall event and may be greater than a 400-yr event in this region.