Lightning, Albany
- When
- August 4, 4:18 PM EST
- Where
- Albany County, Colonie
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.600, -73.974 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in New York, August 4, 2001
Isolated thunderstorms developed in a humid unstable airmass during the afternoon hours of August 4. One thunderstorm became briefly severe as it produced wind gusts in Altamont, Albany County, strong enough to take down large limbs and power lines on Route 146.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $12,000
- 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 ALY wrote it up.
Isolated thunderstorms developed in a humid unstable airmass during the afternoon hours of August 4. One thunderstorm became briefly severe as it produced wind gusts in Altamont, Albany County, strong enough to take down large limbs and power lines on Route 146. Lightning from another storm struck the deck of a home causing a small fire that was quickly extinquished by the Colonie Fire Department.
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 Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 4, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 58 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 58 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 320 PM EDT SAT AUG 4 2001 .DISC... SURFACE DEWPOINTS STILL 65-71 ALL BUT FAR NORTHERN TIER ZONES. AMPLE CAPE FOR THUNDER WITH MINIMAL LOWER / MID LEVEL WINDS. LESS THAN 10 KNOTS BELOW 12K FEET. WITH LITTLE STEERING FLOW AND ENOUGH INSTABILITY..PLUS TOPOGRAPHY...CELLS CURRENTLY MEANDERING SOUTHERLY AT LESS THAN 10. YESTERDAYS 3-4 INCH RAINS IN PARTS WASHINGTON/SARATOGA/WARREN COUNTIES AND POSSIBLE 2-3 PER HOUR AFTN/EVENING... WARRENTED EVENING WATCH THOSE ZONES. MOST ACTION OVER BY MID LATE EVENING AS DRIER AIR SAGS SOUTH. MARGINAL MOISTURE FAR SOUTHERN ZONES SUNDAY...OTHERWISE LOTS OF SUN AND WARM...INTO HOT HUMID MONDAY. .ALY...FLASH FLOOD WATCH WARREN / WASHINGTON / SARATOGA COUNTIES UNTIL 10 PM. NYZ042-043-041-050. WILEY
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 2:55 PM EST, 1 hour 23 minutes before
NYZ043-054-042130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 355 PM EDT SAT AUG 4 2001 ...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO BRING HEAVY RAINS TO NORTHEAST RENSSELAER AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON COUNTIES... THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY IN THE VICINITY OF THE BORDERS OF WASHINGTON...RENSSELAER...AND BENNINGTON COUNTIES. UP TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN IN THE VICINITY OF NORTH HOOSICK AND HOOSICK FALLS IN RENSSELAER...AND THE WHITE CREEK AREA IN WASHINGTON. THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE AN ADDITIONAL INCH OR TWO...AND COULD PRODUCE RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO 3 INCHES IN AN HOUR. BE PREPARED FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS...FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...AND RAPID WITHIN BANK RISES OF STREAMS AND CREEKS.
The radar
The Albany radar (KENX), 8 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:28 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Albany
- When
- August 4, 5:30 PM EST
- Where
- Albany County, Altamont
- Property damage
- $11,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.700, -74.033
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
- 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
- Heat in Minnesota, August 4 to 8, 2001
- Tropical Storm in Florida, August 4 to 6, 2001
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 4, 2001
- Tropical Storm in Florida, August 4 to 6, 2001
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, August 4, 2001
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, August 4, 2001
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, August 4, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, August 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, August 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, August 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Arkansas, August 4, 2001
- Tropical Storm in Alabama, August 4 to 5, 2001
More
Every storm in New York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, August 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: 5264436, 5264435.