Name: Lightning Strike in New York, September 4, 2001
Start: 2001-09-04T07:00
End: 2001-09-04T07:00
Location: New York

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

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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 BUF wrote it up.

A teacher's aide and her sixth-grade son were getting out of their car when they were injured by a nearby lightning strike. The boy had pain and numbness in his hand and the mother experienced neck pain. They were both treated at a nearby hospital.

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 Sep 4, 2:38 AM EST, 4 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 2:38 AM EST, 4 hours 22 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
338 AM EDT TUE SEP 4 2001

COLD FRONTAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS JUST ABOUT RIGHT ON TIME WITH
LEADING EDGE JUST PUSHING INTO THE WESTERN FINGER LAKES REGION.  ALL
ACTIVITY SHOULD BE DONE BY DAYBREAK OVER THE NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES
BUT WILL KEEP SCATTERED ACTIVITY IN EARLY FOR WESTERN SOUTHERN TIER
AND WESTERN FINGER LAKES.

CAPES REMAIN HIGH A FEW HOURS BEHIND THE FRONT FOR THE EASTERN
FINGER LAKES AND EASTERN LAKE ONTARIO COUNTIES SO WILL KEEP THE
THREAT IN THERE THROUGH THE MORNING.

A LITTLE WORRIED ABOUT THE CLEAR SKY GUIDANCE FOR THE OVERNIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY MORNING.  CONDITIONS SIMILAR TO LAST FRIDAY NIGHT AND
SATURDAY WHERE SUBSIDENCE INVERSION TRAPPED MOISTURE IN THE LOW
LEVELS AND WE ENDED UP WITH A BROKEN TO OVERCAST STRATO CU DECK FOR
THE MORNING HOURS.  THE INVERSION IS NOT AS STRONG AS SUNDAY MORNING
HOWEVER AND 850 TEMPS ARE NOT AS COLD.  WILL COVER WITH PARTLY
CLOUDY TONIGHT AND SOME MORNING CLOUDS WEDNESDAY LEADING TO MOSTLY
SUNNY.

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY STILL LOOK GREAT.  HAVE GONE ABOVE GUIDANCE
TEMPS FOR BOTH DAYS AS AVN 850 PROGS SHOW TEMPS UP TO 16C BY FRIDAY
MORNING. AVN ALSO SPEEDS UP THE MOISTURE FIELD FOR APPROACH OF NEXT
FRONT.  WILL ADD THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN FOR
FRIDAY NIGHT FOR ALL AREAS EXCEPT EASTERN LAKE ONTARIO COUNTIES.

ZONES AVAILABLE IN WORKFILE...ON THE STREET AT PRECISELY 345 AM.

.BUF...NONE.

SAGE

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Cattaraugus

When: September 4, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Cattaraugus County, Olean
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.249, -78.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

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

More

Every storm in New York in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, September 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: 5268381.