Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, August 9, 2000

Thunderstorms developed along a stalled boundary across eastern New York late on August 9. Aided by a very humid, unstable airmass and a strong disturbance aloft, some of these became severe. A lone thunderstorm produced dime-sized hail at Summit, Schoharie county. Thunderstorms produced dime-size hail in Stephentown, Rensselaer county. Then about an hour later, the same spotter in Stephentown reported another thunderstorm with nickle-size hail, followed by quarter-size hail, as well as trees and powerlines blown down. Also in Rensselaer county, large limbs and wires were blown down at Schodack Center. Many trees were knocked down at Coeymans Hollow in Albany county. The wind moved a calf shelter a quarter of a mile. Hail of undetermined size destroyed 70 acres of corn. The brunt of the damage came from a line of storms moving across Ulster and especially Dutchess counties. These storms produced a series of downbursts, which began in eastern Ulster county, then migrated to western Dutchess county. A microburst downed a large swath of trees and wires in both Plattenkill and the Wallkill section of Shawangunk. Supervisors of both towns declared States of Emergency. More trees were reported down in the town of Marlboro. Another microburst, about half a mile long and a mile wide, destroyed many trees in the Red Oaks Mill community, as well as Vassar and Spackenkill Roads, all located in the town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county . This area is collectively called the 2nd Ward and was considered devastated. Trees as large as 18 inches in diameter were snapped. Large trees crushed portions of several houses. Bits of leaves were embedded in the vinyl siding of houses. Trees fell through roofs of several houses and destroyed numerous cars. Many roads, including Vassar Road, were completely blocked and thus closed. A National Weather Service storm survey team, estimated the winds gusted as high as 120 miles an hour in the 2nd Ward. A weather spotter reported dime-size hail with the storms, and a person interviewed by the Survey Team, reported half -dollar-size hail. Planes were tossed around at the Dutchess County Airport. Further east in Dutchess county, another larger downburst downed many more trees in the Town of Lagrange near State Highway Route 376. Three houses were reported destroyed in the town itself with many trees down. Broader, less continous tree damage was observed up to four miles east, to the Taconic Parkway, where trees fell down onto the highway itself, forcing a temporary closing of the highway. Both Lagrange and the Town of Poughkeepsie were declared States of Emergency for several days. Up to twenty homes in Dutchess county were reported destroyed, while an additional 123 reported some damage due to the storms. Electrical power was knocked out to 20,000 residents in Ulster and Dutchess counties.