FloodZoneMap.org

Home› Stories› Massachusetts› Flash Flood 2018

Flash Flood — Essex, MA

Aug 12, 2018

Property Damage
$20K
Flood Cause
Heavy Rain

A cold front stalled over Southern New England on the 11th. Low pressure from the Midwest then moved slowly east along the front. The weather system drew upon warm and very humid air to create showers with local downpours, resulting in rainfall amounts of two to five inches in Northern Massachusetts on August 11th and 12th. An exceptionally powerful downpour left 8.15 inches in the city of Lynn.

Source: NOAA National Weather Service Storm Events Database (event 780581). Narrative written by NWS staff at the time of the event.

Flood Risk Context for Essex, MA

This event is one of many recorded floods in Essex County. See the full FEMA flood zone map, NFIP claim totals, and disaster history for the area.

View Essex County flood data →

More Flood Stories

Flood2 deaths$7.0M damage

Essex, MA · May 13, 2006

Heavy rainfall, most of it falling over a 100 hour period, caused widespread flooding across much of eastern Massachusetts of small streams and main stem rivers. Major flooding of a number of small streams and main stem rivers occurred in Essex County of Massachusetts.

Read the full account →
Flood$3.3M damage

Essex, MA · Mar 30, 2010

A low pressure system sat just south of Long Island for two days, bringing heavy rain to much of Southern New England during that time. A persistent southerly low level jet brought very moist air into the area, which resulted in high rainfall rates.

Read the full account →
Flood1 death$9.8M damage

Essex, MA · Mar 14, 2010

A stacked low pressure system (surface low and upper level low on top of each other) moved southeast of Nantucket, spreading rain across Southern New England. This resulted in widespread rainfall totals of three to six inches.

Read the full account →
Coastal Flood$50K damage

Eastern Essex, MA · Dec 23, 2022

Low pressure deepened rapidly as it tracked through the eastern Great Lakes.|The storm produced damaging southeast to south winds across much of southern New England and minor to moderate coastal flooding the east and south coasts.

Read the full account →