New York, 1996

Flash Flood in New York, December 2, 1996

December 2, 1996 · NWS OKX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A low pressure system over the Ohio Valley early Sunday morning on December 1st, intensified as it moved northeast across Eastern Canada during early Monday morning. Lines of thunderstorms formed in the moist unstable airmass ahead of the cold front.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS OKX wrote it up.

A low pressure system over the Ohio Valley early Sunday morning on December 1st, intensified as it moved northeast across Eastern Canada during early Monday morning. A strong cold front that extended southwest from this low, swept across the local region early Monday morning.Lines of thunderstorms formed in the moist unstable airmass ahead of the cold front. These storms produced torrential rainfall that caused widespread small stream and river flooding. The Mahwah River at Suffern rose to 4.52 feet. Its' flood stage was 4.00 feet. The Hackensack River left about 2 1/2 feet of water on sections of Route 59, forcing the closure of both east bound lanes in West Nyack.Occasional rain began across the region during Saturday afternoon, November 30th. Here are selected rainfall event totals for Rockland County: from 1.59 inches at West Nyack to 2.74 inches at Suffern.

The radar

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Rockland

When
December 2, 4:00 AM EST
Where
Rockland County, Suffern
Coordinates
41.152, -74.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New York in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, December 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5582408.