New York, 2001

Dust Devil in New York, April 5, 2001

April 5, 2001 · NWS OKX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An unusually strong dust devil formed along the leading edge of a sea breeze front under clear skies. As the dust devil moved southeast across Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley, it snapped two restraining rope lines and lifted a 2000 pound single-engine Piper Cherokee plane about 25 feet above the ground and tossed it.

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

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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.

An unusually strong dust devil formed along the leading edge of a sea breeze front under clear skies. As the dust devil moved southeast across Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley, it snapped two restraining rope lines and lifted a 2000 pound single-engine Piper Cherokee plane about 25 feet above the ground and tossed it. It also lifted the aircraft cowling, which landed about 200 yards away. Witnesses saw a swirling column of dust about 75 feet tall when the damage occurred.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 5, 1:30 PM EST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 5, 1:30 PM EST, 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
230 PM EDT THU APR 5 2001

THE UPPER RIDGE EXTENDING FROM THE GREAT LAKES TO THE GULF WILL MOVE
SLOWLY EAST AND BE CENTERED ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST BY SATURDAY
EVENING. AT THE SURFACE...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA WILL MOVE OFF
THE COAST OVERNIGHT. A WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS
THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT. CLOUDINESS IN ADVANCE OF THE LOW WILL
SPREAD OVER THE AREA LATE TONIGHT WITH OCCASIONAL RAIN TO FOLLOW
FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. THE LOW WILL MOVE AWAY FROM THE AREA ON
SATURDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER NEW ENGLAND. THIS WILL
MAINTAIN A NORTHEAST FLOW OF COOL MOIST AIR OVER THE REGION ON
SATURDAY. WITH THE RAIN AND ONSHORE WINDS...TEMPERATURES WILL BE
SLIGHTLY BELOW SEASONAL LEVELS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. WARMER AIR WILL
MOVE IN FROM THE WEST LATER SUNDAY INTO MONDAY AS A WARM FRONT MOVES
TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA. WINDS AND SEAS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SCA
CRITERIA THROUGH THE PERIOD.

.OKX...
CT...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
NY...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Devil, Southeast Suffolk

When
April 5, 2:15 PM EST
Where
Southeast Suffolk forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Dust Devil
A small rotating column of dust from surface heating that caused damage or injury.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, April 2001

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: 5239868.