Wildfire, Northwest Suffolk
- When
- May 15, 11:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northwest Suffolk forecast zone
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in New York, May 15, 2001
On Tuesday, May 15th, strong winds, combined with an unusually prolonged period of rain-free conditions and low relative humidity, allowed brush fires to start and spread across several locations in Suffolk County on Long Island. A low pressure system passed across northern New England during Tuesday.
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
- 2
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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 OKX wrote it up.
On Tuesday, May 15th, strong winds, combined with an unusually prolonged period of rain-free conditions and low relative humidity, allowed brush fires to start and spread across several locations in Suffolk County on Long Island. A low pressure system passed across northern New England during Tuesday. This produced strong winds, frequently gusting in excess of 25 mph, throughout much of Long Island. In addition, the relative humidity dropped below 30 percent for several hours during Tuesday afternoon. This combination of strong gusty winds and very low relative humidity allowed a fire in Yaphank to spread to an adjacent wooded area. This fire started around noon, and then quickly spread by early afternoon. By mid afternoon, smoke billowing from the fire reduced visibilities across portions of the Long Island Expressway between exits 65 and 66. The fire was determined to be in control by late Tuesday evening, when winds decreased and the relative humidity increased. Two firefighters were injured while combating this fire; one from smoke inhalation, and the other from a facial injury. Several other brush fires were reported elsewhere in Suffolk County on Tuesday.
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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 15, 10:18 AM EST, 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 15, 10:18 AM EST, 42 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 1118 AM EDT TUE MAY 15 2001 UPDATE...WILL INCLUDE A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS MIDDLESEX AND NEW LONDON COUNTIES OF CT AND EAST END OF LI BASED ON RADAR TRENDS. REMAINDER OF FCST BELOW UNCHANGED. RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS UP FOR THE AFTERNOON. DEW POINTS STARTING TO DROP BACK A BIT...BUT NOT QUITE AS MUCH AS ETA ADVERTISED YESTERDAY. HOWEVER...STILL CONFIDENT THAT RH VALUES WILL DROP BELOW 30 PERCENT MOST OR ALL LOCATIONS THIS AFTERNOON. MORNING SOUNDING ALSO SHOWS STEEP LAPSE RATE. WINDS GUSTING ATTM SO INVERSION BREAKING DOWN AND FREQUENT GUSTS TO 25 MPH LIKELY. VISIBLE LOOPS SHOW CLOUDS ROTATING AROUND LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY ANALYZED OFF THE ME COAST. WILL BREAK UP ZONES WITH CT ZONES AND LI ZONES WORDED PSUNNY AND REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA MOSTLY SUNNY. EVEN A BRIEF SHOWER NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR EXTREME SE CT ZONES THIS AFTERNOON. HIGH TEMPS LOOK OK AND LINE UP WITH LATEST LAMP NUMBERS. THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. LOOKS LIKE ALL MODELS PICK UP ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOW CLOUDS LATER TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AS FLOW SHIFTS AROUND TO THE NORTHEAST AS STACKED UPPER AND SFC LOW MOVE EAST. LOCAL MM5 FORECAST SOUNDINGS DO SHOW LOW LEVEL SATURATION AROUND THE 2 TO 3 THOUSAND FOOT LEVEL LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. MARINE: WILL CONTINUE THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR OCEAN ZONES AS WINDS SHOULD MINIMALLY REACH CRITERIA THIS AFTERNOON. .OKX... CT...RED FLAG WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON CTZ005>012. NJ...RED FLAG WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON NJZ002>006-011. NY...RED FLAG WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON NYZ067>081. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON ANZ350-353-355. PW
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Michigan, May 15 to 17, 2001
- Hail in North Dakota, May 15, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Ohio, May 15, 2001
- Tornadoes and Hail in Minnesota, May 15, 2001
- Hail in Michigan, May 15, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, May 15, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in Michigan, May 15, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Ohio, May 15, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Virginia, May 15, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, May 15, 2001
- Hail in Minnesota, May 15, 2001
- Hail in Ohio, May 15, 2001
More
Every storm in New York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, May 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: 5244698.