Hail and Damaging Wind in New York, April 7 to 8, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in New York, April 7 to 8, 2001
Start: 2001-04-07T22:12
End: 2001-04-08T01:20
Location: New York

April 7 to 8, 2001 · NWS BUF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Thunderstorms moved across the area during the late night and early morning hours. A couple of the storms reached severe limits.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $60,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 BUF wrote it up.

Thunderstorms moved across the area during the late night and early morning hours. A couple of the storms reached severe limits. In Angola, Erie County, one inch hail was reported. In Sodus, Wayne County, thunderstorms winds brought down a large tree that crushed a late model auto. The car was a total loss. County sheriffs also reported the winds downed power lines in Lyons.

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 Buffalo, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 7, 7:46 PM EST, 2 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 7, 7:46 PM EST, 2 hours 26 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
846 PM EDT SAT APR 7 2001

WILL ISSUE UPDATED ZONES NOW DUE TO RAPIDLY ADVANCING STRONG
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY MOVING TOWARD OUR FORECAST AREA (GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL REPORTED JUST NORTH OF LONDON ONTARIO LAST 1/2 HOUR...THANKS TO
OUR CANADIAN COUNTERPARTS AT TORONTO FOR HEADS UP PHONE
COORDINATION). EXPECT TO GO INTO A SEVERE WEATHER MODE SOON SO
RESOURCES WILL BE DEDICATED TO MONITORING THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

THIS HAS BEEN AN ALMOST TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE OF A LOADED GUN ATMOSPHERE
OUT TO THE WEST OF US THIS EVENING.  THE 12Z ETA MODEL SOUNDINGS
SHOWED A GOOD MID LEVEL CAP THROUGH EARLY EVENING THAT WAS FORECAST
TO BREAK AROUND 8PM BASED ON THE DTX FORECAST.  WELL, THE ACTIVITY
DID EXPLODE ONLY ABOUT AN HOUR EARLIER THAN THE FORECAST SOUNDINGS
SUGGESTED.  I WAS AMAZED TO SEE HOW WELL THE SOUNDINGS SUGGESTED THE
BREAKING CAP.  THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE ON HOW BETTER TEMPORAL AND
SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF FORECAST SOUNDINGS CAN FINE TUNE THE PREDICTION
OF SEVRE WEATHER OUTBREAKS.  IN ADDITION, I RAN THE CONVECTIVE
ANIMATION DISPLAY ON BUFKIT AND THE DTX SOUNDING WHICH SHOWS STRONG
LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND EXCELLENT CAPES SHOWS SPLITTING AND POTENTIAL
RIGHT MOVING SUPERCELLS THAT MATCH UP PRETTY WELL WITH WHAT IS
CURRENTLY OCCURRING.

THE PROGRESSION OF THE CONVECTION WILL BE A VERY TOUGH CALL AS IT
APPROACHES OUR FORECAST AREA BECAUSE THESE CELLS ARE RUNNING ALONG
THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF 32 DEGREE LAKE ERIE.  EVEN THOUGH THE CELLS ARE
PROBABLY BEING FORCED BY THE UPPER LEVEL JET I CANT HELP BUT THINK
THAT THE LOW LEVEL COLD AIR WILL HELP TO CHOKE ACTIVITY A BIT.
HOWEVER, THAT DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE HAPPENING.  THE DYNAMICS ARE JUST
TOO STRONG.

WE WILL MONITOR THE SITUATION CLOSELY...ZONES WILL BE ISSUED SOON.

.BUF...NONE  (FLOOD POTENTIAL STATEMENT NYZ007-008)

NIZIOL

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Erie

When: April 7, 10:12 PM EST
Where: Erie County, Angola
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.633, -79.033

Thunderstorm Wind, Wayne

When: April 8, 1:20 AM EST
Where: Wayne County, Lyons
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.067, -77.000

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New York in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5239389, 5239390.