Thunderstorm Wind, Saratoga
- When
- July 4, 5:15 PM EST
- Where
- Saratoga County, Malta
- Property damage
- $19,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.967, -73.783
Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 4, 2001
A cold front, plowing into an unstable airmass, triggered widespread thunderstorms across eastern New York on the evening of Independence Day. Some of the storms became strong to locally severe.
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.
- 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
- 1
- Property damage
- $277,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 12
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.
A cold front, plowing into an unstable airmass, triggered widespread thunderstorms across eastern New York on the evening of Independence Day. Some of the storms became strong to locally severe. Thunderstorm winds brought trees and wires down at both Malta and Schuylerville, Saratoga County. One tree was blown onto a Schuylerville house. Dime size hail also fell in Schuylerville. In Washington County, thunderstorm winds knocked down trees in Middle Falls and Salem. Also in Washington County, trees were blown down along Route 372 between Greenwich and Cambridge. Large tree limbs fell on two cars in the city of Albany. In Rensselaer County, large tree limbs and power lines were brought down in the towns of Speigletown, Schaghticoke and Eagle Mills. Lightning struck a house in Schaghticoke producing minor damage and and at least one injury. Torrential thunderstorm rains triggered a mudslide on Route 9P near Brown Road, in the town of Stillwater, closing Route 9P near Saratoga Lake between Brown Road and Cedar Bluff Road.
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 Jul 4, 1:35 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 1:35 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 235 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2001 .DISC... NATURAL FIREWORKS TO BE VIEWED FROM HOME THIS EVENING MUCH OF CWA. SVR PARAMETERS ALL IN NEAR SVR/MARGINAL SVR RANGE WITH CAPE RANGING FROM BALLPARK 500 NORTHERN FRINGE CWA TO RESPECTABLE ALMOST 1500 MID HUDSON VALLEY. SURFACE DEWPOINTS CREEPING UP ALL DAY LIKELY TO PEAK IN UPPER 60S ABOUT FRONT TIME OF 23Z-02Z. MID HUDSON MAY REACH 70 TD. HELICITY ONLY IN 100-200 RANGE AND MID LEVEL WINDS LACKING PUNCH...HOWEVER UPPER WINDS AROUND H250 IN 100KT NEIGHBORHOOD PACKING PLENTY OF PUNCH IF BROUGHT NEAR SURFACE. WILL ENHANCE THUNDER WORDING FOR THIS EVENING. FIREWORKS END BY MIDNIGHT. REST FORECAST RATHER DULL. UPPER LOW MAY SWING TROF THROUGH FRIDAY WITH SOME CLOUDS ISOLATED --SHRA FAR NORTH. S/WV CRESTING RIDGE AROUND HUDSON BAY SHARPENS TROF EASTERN NY/NEW ENGLAND FOR LOW MOISTURE LOW RISK SHRA SAT AFTN...WITH TROF AXIS ABOUT ON CWA 12Z SUN. THEN DRY AS MASSIVE H500 HIGH CENTERED IN SOUTHERN PLAINS TAKES CONTROL. .ALY...NONE. WILEY
The radar
The Albany radar (KENX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:13 UTC.
Event by event
9 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 heavy rain, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Saratoga
- When
- July 4, 5:20 PM EST
- Where
- Saratoga County, Schuylerville
- Property damage
- $49,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.100, -73.600
Hail, Saratoga
- When
- July 4, 5:20 PM EST
- Where
- Saratoga County, Schuylerville
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.100, -73.600
Thunderstorm Wind, Washington
- When
- July 4, 5:30 PM EST
- Where
- Washington County, Middle Falls
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.100, -73.533
Heavy Rain, Saratoga
- When
- July 4, 5:30 PM EST to 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Saratoga County, Stillwater
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.107, -73.864 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Thunderstorm Wind, Washington
- When
- July 4, 5:40 PM EST
- Where
- Washington County, Greenwich
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.100, -73.517
Thunderstorm Wind, Washington
- When
- July 4, 6:30 PM EST
- Where
- Washington County, Salem
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.183, -73.333
Thunderstorm Wind, Albany
- When
- July 4, 6:40 PM EST
- Where
- Albany County, Albany
- Property damage
- $40,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.650, -73.767
Thunderstorm Wind, Rensselaer
- When
- July 4, 6:45 PM EST
- Where
- Rensselaer County, Speigletown
- Property damage
- $33,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.800, -73.650
Thunderstorm Wind, Rensselaer
- When
- July 4, 6:45 PM EST
- Where
- Rensselaer County, Schaghticoke
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.900, -73.583
Lightning, Rensselaer
- When
- July 4, 6:45 PM EST
- Where
- Rensselaer County, Schaghticoke
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 42.711, -73.510 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Thunderstorm Wind, Rensselaer
- When
- July 4, 6:50 PM EST
- Where
- Rensselaer County, Eagle Mills
- Property damage
- $21,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.733, -73.600
What these are
- 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.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat and Drought in Oklahoma, July 4 to 31, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, July 4, 2001
- High Surf in Puerto Rico, July 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Utah, July 4, 2001
- Heat in Illinois, July 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 4, 2001
- Tornado in Kentucky, July 4, 2001
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 4, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, July 4, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in Kentucky, July 4, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, July 4, 2001
More
Every storm in New York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, July 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: 5257844, 5257845, 5257846, 5257847, 5257855, 5257848, 5257849, 5257850, 5257851, 5257852, 5257853, 5257854.