What Was The Rainiest Day Ever For Massachusetts?
It’s been a lot worse!
This past Tuesday’s massive rainstorm left a lot of the New England under water and some towns are still dealing with all that rain. Hampton, NH was devasted with widespread flooding along the coast. Many homes were flooded and the damage done is going to be in the millions. As bad as that was, it was not the rainiest day ever for Massachusetts. So what was the rainiest day ever in Massachusetts?
![Large Coastal Storm Brings Heavy Winds And Excessive Rains To East Coast](https://wror.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2024/01/GettyImages-1922932726.jpg)
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Oh no Diane!
On August 18th into the 19th the record for most rain in a single day in Massachusetts was set in Westfield with an incredible 18.15 inches in a 24 hour period all due to the whopper hurricane Diane.
In little over a week, two hurricanes passed by Southern New England in August 1955 producing major flooding over much of the region. Hurricane Connie produced generally 4-6 inches of rainfall over southern New England on August 11 and 12. The result of this was to saturate the ground and bring river and reservoir levels to above normal levels.
![Flooding And Sea Foam Inundate New Hampshire Coast After Storms](https://wror.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2024/01/GettyImages-1915713199.jpg)
HAMPTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE – JANUARY 10: Flood waters inundate the town on January 10, 2024 in Hampton, New Hampshire. Hampton declared a state of emergency due to high winds, waves and flooding. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Hurricane Diane came a week later and dealt a massive punch to New England. Rainfall totals from Diane ranged up to nearly 20 inches over a two day period. The headwaters of the Farmington River in Connecticut recorded 18 inches in a 24-hour period. Both of these accumulations exceeded records for New England. The same is true of much of the flooding that resulted from these massive rainfall amounts.
Jan 9 Nor’Easter
It probably doesn’t make you feel better that ol’ Diane still has the record for most rainfall, especially if your basement was flooded this past week. The bad news is, that there is more rain coming this weekend. For towns that are still dealing with all the flooding, that means their problems are not going away any time soon. At this point, we probably all wish that it was snow instead. That’s something we are much more equipped to handle.