Flash Flooding in New York, February 9 to 10, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding in New York, February 9 to 10, 2001
Start: 2001-02-09T16:00
End: 2001-02-10T13:00
Location: New York

February 9 to 10, 2001 · NWS BUF · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Rain combined with warm temperatures to produce ice jam flooding along Cazenovia Creek in West Seneca and Buffalo. The initial jam formed in the Parkside Drive/Willowdale Drive area of West Seneca.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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Floods
Wind
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Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $75,000
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.

Rain combined with warm temperatures to produce ice jam flooding along Cazenovia Creek in West Seneca and Buffalo. The initial jam formed in the Parkside Drive/Willowdale Drive area of West Seneca. After several hours, the ice broke loose only to jam further downstream near Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo. Several homes had to be evacuated in West Seneca. The flood waters overflowed streets in both West Seneca and South Buffalo.

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 Feb 9, 3:00 PM EST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 9, 3:00 PM EST, 1 hour before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
300 PM EST FRI FEB 9 2001

A LINE OF CONVECTION IS RACING TO THE NORTHEAST OVER LAKE ERIE AT THE
NOSE OF A WARM AND MOIST LOW LEVEL JET OVER WESTERN OHIO. THIS JET
WILL TRANSLATE FARTHER TO THE EAST THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT AS THE
COLD FRONT CROSSES OHIO THIS EVENING AND INTO EXTREME WESTERN NY
AROUND OR AFTER MIDNIGHT. PRECIP WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION
AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WITH A DEEPER LAYER OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND
THE POTENTIAL FOR DEEPER CONVECTION THIS EVENING IN THE WEST...AND
OVERNIGHT TO THE EAST OF LAKE ONTARIO. SUSTAINED SURFACE WINDS WILL
INCREASE TO 40 MPH AT TIMES TONIGHT AND CONVECTIVE CELLS MAY TAP INTO
THE STRONG LOW LEVEL JET AND TRANSPORT 70 KNOT WINDS FROM 4KFT TO THE
SURFACE THIS EVENING INTO THE EARLY OVERNIGHT. WINDS WILL BECOME MORE
WESTERLY THEN NORTHWEST AND MAY BE AS HIGH AS 40 MPH FOR A FEW HOURS
AFTER COLD FROPA. WILL MAINTAIN THE HIGH WIND WARNINGS THROUGH THE
NIGHT IN THE WEST AND TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY IN THE EAST.

COLD AND DRY AIR LATER SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY WILL COVER THE REGION
AND THE COLD AIR OVER THE LAKES MAY PRODUCE AN AREA OF LAKE EFFECT
SNOW SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF LAKE ONTARIO WITH A LESSER CHANCE OFF THE
MORE ICE COVERED WATERS OF LAKE ERIE.

.BUF...HIGH WIND WARNING AND TONIGHT NYZ001-002-010>012-019>021
       HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNDING
            NYZ003>008-013-014
       FLOOD WATCH UNTIL NOON SATURDAY NYZ010.

HIBBERT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Erie

When: February 9, 4:00 PM EST to 8:30 PM EST
Where: Erie County, West Seneca
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Erie

When: February 9, 9:00 PM EST to February 10, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Erie County, Buffalo
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, February 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: 5233843, 5233844.