RECORD PRECIPITATION TOTALS FROM THE COASTAL NEW-ENGLAND RAINSTORM OF20-21 OCTOBER 1996

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 assoc iated frontal boundary at the surface, both of which slowly drifted ac ross New England. Storm rainfall totals ranged as high as 488 mm, whic h fell just short of the all-time greatest storm event ever recorded i n New England, but statewide 1-day precipitation records were set in M aine and New Hampshire. Recurrence interval analysis revealed that thi s event was in gross excess of a 100-yr rainfall event and may be grea ter than a 400-yr event in this region.