Flash Flooding in New York, June 21 to 22, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding in New York, June 21 to 22, 2001
Start: 2001-06-21T20:30
End: 2001-06-22T00:00
Location: New York

June 21 to 22, 2001 · NWS BUF · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Heavy rains, in excess of five inches, fell in two storms on the city of Jamestown, Chautauqua county. The flood waters inundated downtown streets and parking lots with up to two feet of water.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $40,000
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.

Heavy rains, in excess of five inches, fell in two storms on the city of Jamestown, Chautauqua county. The flood waters inundated downtown streets and parking lots with up to two feet of water.

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 Jun 21, 1:21 PM EST, 7 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 1:21 PM EST, 7 hours 9 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
221 PM EDT THU JUN 21 2001

BUF RADAR STILL DOWN SO WE ARE A BIT BLIND WITH LOCAL CONVECTION THIS
AFTERNOON...BUT UTILIZING NEIGHBORING 88-D AND MEDIA RADARS TO BEST
PLACE ACTIVITY.

EARLIER BATCH OF SHOWERS HAS PULLED OFF INTO CNTRL NY THIS AFTERNOON
WITH BULK OF ACTIVITY OVER WAYNE AND OSWEGO COS ATTM. EXPECT THIS TO
CONTINUE ACROSS ERN LK ONT COUNTIES INTO EARLY EVENING.

OF MORE CONCERN IS BLOSSOMING CONVECTION ACROSS NW PA AND SW NY.
SKIES HAVE CLEARED SOME IN THIS REGION WITH TDS IN UPPER 60S AND OLD
SFC BOUNDARY IN THE VCNTY. MSAS SHOWS LI-S IN -5 RANGE AS WELL.
EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO LIFT INTO WRN COUNTIES EARLY THIS EVENING.
SOME THREAT OF SVR IN WRN PA AND SLGT CHC INTO OUR SRN TIER AS WELL.

MODELS FAIRLY SIMILAR WITH TIMING OF SFC LOW WHICH DEVELO0PS AHEAD OF
SHARPENING TROF OVER CNTRL LAKES TONIGHT. THIS LOW MOVES TO NEAR YYZ
BY 12Z FRI. STRONG OMEGA FIELDS SWEEP ACROSS WRN NY IN 06-12Z TIME
PERIOD AND A LITTLE LATER FURTHER EAST. OCCLUDED FRONT CROSSES FAR
WEST FRI AM BUT SLOWS AS IT MOVES EAST...STALLING OUT OVER ERN NY FRI
NT AND SAT. AVN IS FURTHEST EAST AND CLEARS OUT WEST ON SAT...ETA
HOLDS IT BACK FOR A WET SAT ACROSS OUR ERN ZONES. WILL SPLIT THE
DIFFERENCE FOR NOW.

SO...WILL ORGANIZE ZONES ON AN UNUSUAL N-S ORIENTATION TO ACCOUNT FOR
ENDING OF RAIN. WLL GO SHWRS/TSTMS WEST TONIGHT AND NOT SPECIFY A
TIMING...LIKELY POPS E OF LK ONTARIO. LIKELY POPS FAR WEST FRI BUT
MAINLY AM..WILL BLEND TO 100 POPS E OF ROC. WILL RETAIN TSTORM
MENTION FRI E OF GENESEE. WLL TAPER POPS DOWN ONLY SLOWLY FRI NT AND
SAT BUT STILL HOLD ONTO 30 BUF...40 ROC...AND 70 ART FOR SATURDAY.

MOS/MAV TEMPS ARE CLOSE AND IN BALLPARK SO WILL FOLLOW.

EXTENDED...SUNDAY AND MONDAY LOOK LIKE FINE SUMMER DAYS WITH PLENTY
OF SUN AND 80-85 TEMPS...ALTHOUGH SUN STILL A BIT SHAKY IN EAST. TUES
AND WED MORE HUMID. NEXT FROPA THURS.

HYDROWISE...WRN NY REMAINS QUITE DRY AND FFG OVER 3 INCHES IN 3 HRS
EVERYWHERE. POTENTIAL QPF 0.5 TO 1.0 INCH NEXT 36 HOURS...POSSIBLY A
BIT MORE EAST.

THATS IT FROM THE BUF THIS AFTERNOON. WRKZONES OUT. FINALS BY 330.
TAKE IT EASY.

.BUF...NONE.

MCLAUGHLIN

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, Chautauqua

When: June 21, 8:30 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Chautauqua County, Jamestown
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.303, -79.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Chautauqua

When: June 21, 10:30 PM EST to June 22, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Chautauqua County, Jamestown
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.303, -79.406 (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, June 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: 5252359, 5252360.