Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, August 13, 1999

Scattered thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front on the evening of August 13. One of the cells developed into a super cell as it moved into the extreme eastern portion of the Mohawk Valley. The super cell then headed east into northern portions of the Capital District. This cell was responsible for a considerable amount of damage along a path bounded on the south side by Interstate 88 and the NYS Thruway. Some of the more significant damage from the storm, included trees and power lines falling onto to homes in Esperance Schoharie County destroying a couple of outbuildings. In Delanson, Schenectady County a front porch was ripped off a house. In Brunswick, Rensselaer County, winds were estimated at 80 mph with debris from a barn nearby falling in another back yard. In addition a roof was blow off the barn. In the Maywood neighborhood of Colonie, several homes were seriously damaged by large falling trees, and at least 10 cars were damaged. A new Ford Explorer was close to being totalled by large falling limbs. A National Weather Service official estimated the wind to be between 80 and 100 mph in the Maywood location. Large trees were also downed in other localities in Montgomery, Schenectady, Southern Saratoga and Rensselaer counties. At the Albany International Airport, a gust to 59 mph was clocked. In addition to the wind, quarter size hail was noted at Speigletown in Schoharie County. Another thunderstorm cell associated with the cold front produced quarter size hail in Stockport, Columbia county later that evening.