Damaging Winds in New York, August 16, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds in New York, August 16, 2002
Start: 2002-08-16T17:55
End: 2002-08-16T19:07
Location: New York

August 16, 2002 · NWS BUF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Thunderstorms moved onshore from Lake Ontario during the late afternoon hours producing damaging winds. The winds downed trees and power lines.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $35,000
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.

Thunderstorms moved onshore from Lake Ontario during the late afternoon hours producing damaging winds. The winds downed trees and power lines. A gust of 78 mph was recorded by the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) at the Oswego County Airport in Fulton. Near the airport, several large trees were downed, one causing minor structural damage to a house. Another residence suffered minor structural damage as walls from a "Florida room" were torn and thrown from the house.

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 Aug 16, 2:10 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 2:10 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
310 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2002

WRN NY STEAMING UP ONCE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON...BUT BULK OF STRONG
CONVECTION DEVELOPING EAST AND NORTHWEST OF OUR REGION. INITIAL AREA
DEVELOPED OVER CNTRL NY MIDDAY AND HAS GONE SEVERE OVER ERN NY...BUT
NO CONCERN TO US. ON OUR OTHER FLANK...WEAKENING FRONT HAS SLOWED
DOWN AND EXTENDS FROM SRN ONT TO SRN MICH AND SHOULD DISSIPATE OVER
US THIS EVENING. ACTIVITY HAS FIRED UP NICELY OVER ONTARIO...BUT
STRONG SW WIND HAS SET UP LAKE SHADOW BUF AREA AND IS INHIBITING
MOVEMENT INTO NIAG FRONTIER. ACTIVITY IS DEVELOPING ALONG LK BREEZE
BOUNDARY SOUTH OF LAKE OVER SRN ERIE/WYOMING COS AND THIS SHOULD
FILL IN A BIT AS IT MOVES ACROSS GEN VALLEY AND EVENTUALLY ERN LK
ONT REGION NEXT FEW HOURS. ALSO NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON DEVELOPING
ACTIVITY S AND E OF CLEVE-ERIE WHICH WILL MOVE UP INTO SRN TIER.
SO...WILL CONTINUE WITH 40 POP SCATD TSTMS FOR AWHILE THIS EVENING.
BUF AREA MAY ESCAPE COMPLETELY...ALTHOUGH AS BREEZE WEAKENS...
LEFTOVER ACTIVITY COULD DRIFT IN FROM SRN ONT EARLY THIS EVENING AND
CANNOT RULE OUT ROGUE LK ERIE ENHANCEMENT OF ANYTHING OVERNIGHT
AGAIN AS LAKE SWITCHES ROLES SO WILL KEEP 30 POPS IN HERE TOO.

SATURDAY WILL BE ANOTHER SCORCHER...PERHAPS A DEG OR TWO HIGHER THAN
TODAY WITH A BIT MORE SUN AND 850S OF 18-19C. WLL GO A BIT OVER
GUIDANCE WHICH HAS BEEN TOO LOW OF LATE...LOW 90S ROC AREA...NR 90
ELSEWHERE...85-90 BUF/ART. THEN IT GETS INTERESTING. WE HAD BEEN
MAINLY CONCERNED WITH THE LONG ANTICIPATED COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON
SUNDAY...BUT ALL MODELS NOW BRING IT THROUGH A BIT EARLIER WITH VERY
FEW DYNAMICS AND ALMOST NO PRECIP (AS HAS OFTEN BEEN THE CASE THIS
SUMMER). HOWEVER...WE NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE SHORT WAVE OVER
TENN VALLEY WHICH IS PROGGED TO DRIFT NE INTO PA SAT NT. ETA/AVN
KEEP MOISTURE SOUTH OF THE BORDER BUT NGM SURGES COPIOUS RAINFALL
INTO WRN NY SAT EVE. FOR NOW...WILL GO WITH 30 POPS LATE IN DAY SAT
SRN TIER AND LV NRN COUNTIES DRY. WILL INCREASE TO 60 POPS ALL AREAS
SAT NT AND WILL NOT RESTRICT TIME AS IT MAY START EARLY IN EVENING.

SUNDAY WILL GRADUALLY TURN LESS HUMID WITH CLEARING SKIES FROM WEST
TO EAST. CANNOT GO DRY WITH SUCH A FRONT...BUT WILL LOWER POPS FROM
30 WEST TO 40 EAST AND SPEED UP A BIT. SHOULD BE A VERY PLEASANT
AFTERNOON IN WEST.

EXTENDED...NEXT WEEK GENERALLY LOOKS GREAT. HIGH PRESSURE AND +10
850S ASSURE A NEAR PERFECT MONDAY WITH M-U 70S AND TDS IN 50S.
PLEASANT WX SHOULD HOLD THRU WED WITH SLIGHT WARMING TREND WED. AVN
RIPPLES A LOW TO OUR SOUTH MON NT BUT SHOULD STAY TO OUR SOUTH. WEAK
FRONT WED NT PASSES TO OUR NORTH...DECIDED TO LEAVE DRY. THURS/FRI
SHOULD SEE DRY SEASONABLE WX AS HIGH SETTLES OVER GRT LAKES.

HYDROWISE...VIRTUALLY NO RAIN YET TODAY...BUT ISOLD STORMS COULD
DROP 0.5+ NEXT FEW HRS...BASINWIDE AVERAGES SHOULD STAY UNDER 0.25
INCH.

THATS IT FROM THE BUF THIS AFTERNOON. WRKZONES BY 330. FINALS BEFORE
4. 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 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: August 16, 5:55 PM EST
Where: Jefferson County, Watertown
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.983, -75.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Oswego

When: August 16, 7:07 PM EST
Where: Oswego County, Fulton Oswego Co Arp
Measured: 68 kt (78 mph)
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.350, -76.383

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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New York in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, August 2002

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: 5312658, 5312659.