Flash Flood, Erie
- When
- January 31, 7:45 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
- Where
- Erie County, West Seneca
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in New York, January 31, 2001
Soaking rains on the 30th caused significant rises in area river and creek levels. The rapid rise resulted in an ice jam on Cazenovia Creek in Erie County.
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
- $100,000
- 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 BUF wrote it up.
Soaking rains on the 30th caused significant rises in area river and creek levels. The rapid rise resulted in an ice jam on Cazenovia Creek in Erie County. In West Seneca, basement and road flooding occurred in the Parkside/Willowdale neighborhood. The jam broke later in the morning and the water levels receded.
The radar
The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 21 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:42 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 31, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Maine, January 31, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, January 31, 2001
- Winter Weather in Vermont, January 31, 2001
- Winter Weather in New York, January 31, 2001
- High Surf in Hawaii, January 31, 2001
- Dense Fog in California, January 31, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Ohio, January 31, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, January 31, 2001
- Flood in Indiana, January 31, 2001
- Flood in Oklahoma, January 31, 2001
- Wildfire in Hawaii, January 31, 2001
More
Every storm in New York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, January 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5231170.