Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 25, NWS Buffalo, NY
NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 16, 2026, 6:26 PM EDT for Lewis County, New York. It was in force for 49 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 16, 2026, 6:26 PM EDT (22:26 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 16, 2026, 7:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Buffalo, NY
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
- Hail
- 1.0 in
- Wind
- 60.0 mph
County Lewis County, NY
The radar
The Ft Drum radar (KTYX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 165 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 756 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 21 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 47 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
671
WUUS51 KBUF 162226
SVRBUF
NYC049-162315-
/O.NEW.KBUF.SV.W.0025.260416T2226Z-260416T2315Z/
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
National Weather Service Buffalo NY
626 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026
The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a
* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...
Southern Lewis County in central New York...
* Until 715 PM EDT.
* At 625 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 8 miles east of
Redfield, or 11 miles north of Camden, moving east at 55 mph.
HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage
to roofs, siding, and trees.
* Locations impacted include...
Whetstone Gulf State Park, Highmarket, Lyonsdale, Greig, Port
Leyden, Lyons Falls, Constableville, Turin, Osceola, and West
Leyden.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a
building.
&&
LAT...LON 4342 7553 4347 7576 4364 7577 4382 7514
4361 7511
TIME...MOT...LOC 2225Z 249DEG 48KT 4350 7567
HAIL THREAT...RADAR INDICATED
MAX HAIL SIZE...1.00 IN
WIND THREAT...RADAR INDICATED
MAX WIND GUST...60 MPH
$$
Mitchell2 follow-up statements
279 WWUS51 KBUF 162254 SVSBUF Severe Weather Statement National Weather Service Buffalo NY 654 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 NYC049-162315- /O.CON.KBUF.SV.W.0025.000000T0000Z-260416T2315Z/ Lewis NY- 654 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 715 PM EDT FOR SOUTHEASTERN LEWIS COUNTY... At 654 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles west of McKeever, or 8 miles northeast of Boonville, moving east at 50 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include... Lyonsdale and Port Leyden. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. && LAT...LON 4352 7530 4360 7536 4372 7513 4361 7511 TIME...MOT...LOC 2254Z 251DEG 42KT 4358 7525 HAIL THREAT...RADAR INDICATED MAX HAIL SIZE...0.75 IN WIND THREAT...RADAR INDICATED MAX WIND GUST...60 MPH $$ Mitchell
812 WWUS51 KBUF 162311 SVSBUF Severe Weather Statement National Weather Service Buffalo NY 711 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 NYC049-162321- /O.EXP.KBUF.SV.W.0025.000000T0000Z-260416T2315Z/ Lewis NY- 711 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR SOUTHEASTERN LEWIS COUNTY WILL EXPIRE AT 715 PM EDT... The storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits, and has exited the warned area. Therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire. && LAT...LON 4352 7530 4360 7536 4372 7513 4361 7511 TIME...MOT...LOC 2311Z 249DEG 48KT 4366 7497 $$ Mitchell
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Buffalo, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 16, 2:29 PM EDT, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- 1) Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and early this evening, with damaging winds as the main hazard. 2) Another round of widespread showers expected with a few possible thunderstorms Saturday into Saturday night. 3) The very warm pattern continues through Saturday before much colder air arrives by early next week.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 2:29 PM EDT, 3 hours 57 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Buffalo NY 229 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... Increased coverage of fog and lower ceilings tonight. && .KEY MESSAGES... 1) Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and early this evening, with damaging winds as the main hazard. 2) Another round of widespread showers expected with a few possible thunderstorms Saturday into Saturday night. 3) The very warm pattern continues through Saturday before much colder air arrives by early next week. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGE 1...Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and early this evening, with damaging winds as the main hazard. Low pressure near the Ontario-Quebec border early this afternoon will slide east to the Saint Lawrence Valley by this evening...then on to the Canadian Maritimes tonight. In the process...this feature will finally sweep the frontal boundary that has been in our vicinity the past few days southeastward across our area as a cold front through early this evening...with the boundary then departing to our southeast tonight and Friday...with the latter finally allowing for a bit of a break in the active weather for later tonight and Friday. Out ahead of the front...some partial sunshine/diurnal warming of our airmass coupled with sfc dewpoints in the vicinity of 60 has already allowed for the development of 500-1000 J/kg of MLCAPE across portions of western/central NY away from the influence of the lakes...with the greatest instability in our area found approximately from about the interior of the Southern Tier/Genesee Valley eastward across the Finger Lakes. Within this latter region...continued destabilization over the next couple hours should allow for pockets of moderate instability to develop by mid to late this afternoon...with weaker/more modest instability expected further back across extreme far WNY...lowest within the area currently shadowed by Lake Erie. Within this environment...a few spotty showers have already managed to form along lake breeze boundaries across WNY and Lake Ontario... and more scattered showers and storms should continue to develop along these features over the next couple hours with further airmass destabilization. As the parent shortwave trough accompanying the surface low begins to increasingly impinge upon the region along with its associated cold front during the mid to late afternoon hours...showers and thunderstorms will tend to become more numerous/ widespread and make their way eastward...before diminishing from west to east early this evening following the cold frontal passage. With a fast/strong flow in place aloft along with 0-6 km bulk shear values in the vicinity of 45-55 knots...the environment should be favorable for the development of strong to severe multicells/linear segments and perhaps also a few supercells. Strong/damaging winds will continue to be the primary threat with these...however there is also a low risk for large hail/an isolated tornado or two within any stronger supercellular convection that can develop. This latter risk will be greatest from portions of the Genesee Valley/Finger Lakes eastward into central NY...where instability should be greatest and the convection may have an opportunity to tap into enhanced low level shear along a potential lake breeze boundary/convergence zone. While we do have a very moist airmass in place for this time of year (PWATs of around 1.50" - supportive of heavy downpours) and ground conditions are also rather moist...the fast movement of the convection should generally help to limit hydro concerns...unless repeated training of cells occurs over the same areas...in which case shorter-fused flood/flash flood warnings may become necessary. KEY MESSAGE 2...Another round of widespread showers expected with a few possible thunderstorms Saturday into Saturday night. After a relative break in the active weather later tonight through Friday night...things will turn much more active again on Saturday as a deepening upper level trough overspreads the Great Lakes...and its associated surface low makes its way to the vicinity of James Bay. This next system will sweep its trailing strong cold front across our region Saturday afternoon and evening...with daytime heating of the warm and moist airmass out ahead of the front supporting the development of another round of widespread showers and widely scattered to scattered thunderstorms...with the potential for the latter greatest across western New York where instability looks to be highest. Should these materialize...the strong/fast deep- layer flow out ahead of the front may support a linear convective mode with a few localized strong wind gusts. With daytime heating/mixing...the stronger flow aloft may also allow for a period of rather breezy to downright windy conditions prior to the frontal passage. KEY MESSAGE 3...The very warm pattern continues through Saturday before much colder air arrives by early next week. While temps will cool off a few degrees for Friday in the wake of the cold front, above average temperatures will easily persist through Saturday. The more substantial pattern change will come behind the cold front described in Key Message (2) as deep upper level troughing crosses the Northeast. 850mb temps of +12C to +15C Saturday afternoon will tumble to -4C to -6C by Sunday morning, before bottoming out around -12C Monday morning. This will result in high temperatures averaging 10-15 degrees (F) below normal Sunday through Monday. Overnight lows will be similarly cold, with areawide temps dipping below freezing and potentially even into the teens across the higher terrain areas, depending on the amount of clearing that takes place. This colder airmass moving through the region combined with some minor lake enhancement and upsloping will even support a few snow showers or flurries at times later Sunday/Sunday night/into Monday...though the relatively dry airmass and short temporal window (coupled with the now-much warmer ground conditions) should result in these having little if any accumulation/impact. Ridging all levels cresting across/east of the area should then cause a southerly flow to develop by Tuesday, thereby allowing temperatures to recover back to near climatological normals. && .AVIATION /18Z THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Low pressure near the Ontario-Quebec border will move east to the Saint Lawrence Valley by this evening...then on into the Canadian Maritimes tonight. In the process...this feature will push its trailing cold front southeastward across the region this afternoon and early this evening...with the front and lake breeze boundaries generating numerous to widespread showers and scattered thunderstorms in the process. In addition to heavy downpours and corresponding reductions to IFR/MVFR...some of the storms will also be capable of strong wind gusts to/over 50 knots and hail... particularly from the Genesee Valley eastward across the Finger Lakes into central New York. Following the passage of the cold front this evening...some scattered showers will probably linger across the region for a good portion of the night. Of more concern to aviation interests... copious amounts of low level moisture should also linger across the region right through tonight. Coupled with weak/light winds...this will allow for the development of widespread LIFR/IFR conditions in low stratus and/or fog. Any lingering scattered showers will then dissipate Friday morning...with flight conditions gradually improving back to VFR through the course of the day as high pressure and drier air builds across our region. Outlook... Friday night...VFR. Saturday...VFR in the morning...then deterioration to IFR/MVFR with showers and scattered thunderstorms developing during the afternoon and evening. Also breezy to windy. Sunday/Sunday night...A mix of MVFR/IFR with upslope/lake effect rain showers mixing with and changing to snow showers. Monday...Improvement to VFR/MVFR with leftover scattered lake effect/upslope snow showers ending. Tuesday,,,Mainly VFR. && .MARINE... An approaching cold front will generate numerous to widespread showers and scattered thunderstorms as it crosses the region this afternoon and early this evening...a few of which may produce strong surface wind gusts and locally higher waves. Otherwise the warmer airmass and relatively cold lake temperatures will result in limited mixing of synoptic winds...thereby precluding any real risk of advisory-level conditions. Relatively light winds and minimal wave action are then expected later tonight and Friday as high pressure builds across the Lower Great Lakes...before winds increase out of the south/southwest Saturday/Saturday night in association with the approach/passage of a strong cold front. This may result in the next round of SCA conditions with the frontal passage also accompanied by another round of showers and storms...some of which could produce locally stronger winds and higher waves. && .BUF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NY...None. MARINE...None. && DISCUSSION...JJR AVIATION...JJR MARINE...JJR
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 16, 2:32 PM EDT, 3 hours 54 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Buffalo NY 232 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021-085-171900- Niagara-Orleans-Monroe-Wayne-Northern Cayuga-Oswego-Jefferson-Lewis- Northern Erie-Genesee-Wyoming-Livingston-Ontario-Chautauqua- Cattaraugus-Allegany-Southern Erie- 232 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for western and north central New York. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Showers and scattered thunderstorms will cross the region this afternoon and early this evening. Some of the storms may become severe, with the primary severe weather risk coming in the form of damaging wind gusts. This being said...large hail and an isolated tornado or two are also possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. This product, along with other watches, warnings, advisories, and statements issued by the National Weather Service office in Buffalo can be found on the internet at http://www.weather.gov/buf LEZ020-040-041-LOZ030-042>045-062>065-SLZ022-024-171900- Upper Niagara River and Buffalo Harbor- Lake Erie nearshore waters from Ripley to Dunkirk- Lake Erie nearshore waters from Dunkirk to Buffalo- Lower Niagara River- Lake Ontario nearshore waters from the Niagara River to Hamlin Beach- Lake Ontario nearshore waters from Hamlin Beach to Sodus Bay- Lake Ontario nearshore waters from Sodus Bay to Mexico Bay- Lake Ontario nearshore waters from Mexico Bay to the Saint Lawrence River- Lake Ontario open waters from the Niagara River to Hamlin Beach- Lake Ontario open waters from Hamlin Beach to Sodus Bay- Lake Ontario open waters from Sodus Bay to Mexico Bay- Lake Ontario open waters from Mexico Bay to the Saint Lawrence River- Saint Lawrence River from Cape Vincent to Ogdensburg- Saint Lawrence River from Ogdensburg to Saint Regis- 232 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the New York waters of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the Saint Lawrence River. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Showers and scattered thunderstorms will cross the region this afternoon and early this evening. Some of the storms may become severe, with the primary severe weather risk coming in the form of damaging wind gusts. This being said...large hail and an isolated tornado or two are also possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Hazardous weather is not expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. This product, along with other watches, warnings, advisories, and statements issued by the National Weather Service office in Buffalo can be found on the internet at http://www.weather.gov/buf JJR
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 16, 2:28 PM EDT, 3 hours 58 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Buffalo NY
228 PM EDT Thu Apr 16 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0814 PM Tornado 3 SSW Lime Lake-Machias 42.39N 78.51W
04/15/2026 Cattaraugus NY NWS Storm Survey
Several trees uprooted in multiple
directions shortly after the intersection of
Tug Hill Road and Gulf Hill Road. Primary
residence had a window blown in the upper
most story of the house, with a secondary
residence loosing a few roof shingles.
&&
EAJThe office that day
Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 8:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | BUF | Allegany, Cattaraugus | 16 min |
| Apr 15, 8:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Allegany, Cattaraugus, Livingston, Ontario | 32 min |
| Apr 16, 4:32 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | BUF | 43 min | |
| Apr 16, 5:13 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | BUF | 62 min | |
| Apr 16, 5:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Cayuga, Oswego | 34 min |
| Apr 16, 6:07 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | BUF | 38 min | |
| Apr 16, 6:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Cayuga, Oswego, Wayne | 54 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 2026Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2026
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.