New York, 2002

Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in New York, July 19, 2002

July 19, 2002 · NWS OKX · 3 events in 1 county or zone

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 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 Jul 19, 2:00 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 2:00 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
300 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 2002

UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVR THE AREA WITH SCTD CONVECTION BREAKING OUT ACRS
THE LWR HUDSON VALLEY INTO NWRN CT WHERE FNTL BOUNDARY LIES. WEAK
SFC LO REMAINS OVR THE AREA. TSTMS PRODUCING RAIN...SOME HVY...NOT
EXPECTING ANY TSTMS TO BE SVR. MODLES CONSISTANT WITH MOVG THE SFC
WAVE SLOWLY TO THE ENE TNGT WITH THE FNTL BOUNDARY SINKING THRU THE
AREA. AVN KPS LO PRES ALNG  THE MID ATLC CST INTO SAT WITH
MEASURABLE PCPN. HAVE LEANED TWD NGM/ETA AND MVG PCPN OUT BY 04Z TO
05Z WITH CLRG. PROBLEM TNGT WL BE HOW DENSE FOG GETS ESPLY ACRS ERN
LI. VSBY SAT STILL SHOWING THE STATUS JUST OFF THE CST. DEVLOPING
WEAK NE FLOW AND WITH ANY PCPN COULD DEVLOP AREAS OF DENSE FOG. WITH
LIGHT WINDS ACRS RGN AND ANY PCPN PATCHY FOG POSSIBLE AND WL MENTION
ALL ZONES.

MARINE: NO PROBLEMS WITH THE SEAS AND WINDS THRU THE PD. REDUCED
VSYS THIS EVENING IN TSTMS AND LATE TNGTH IN FOG.

CT...NONE.
NY...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

The radar

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rockland

When
July 19, 3:30 PM EST
Where
Rockland County, Spring Vly
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.117, -74.050

Spotters reported that severe thunderstorm winds knocked down several trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rockland

When
July 19, 4:00 PM EST to 4:03 PM EST
Where
Rockland County, 4 mi NW of Pearl River
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.100, -74.067

A spotter reported that severe thunderstorm winds ripped roofing shingles off several houses in Chestnut Ridge. A TV Meteorologist reported large trees downed in Nyack and boats overturned on the Hudson River from severe thunderstorm winds.

Flash Flood, Rockland

When
July 19, 4:15 PM EST
Where
Rockland County, West Nyack
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
41.152, -74.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Torrential rain occurred in and around West Nyack. Radar estimated rainfall rates between 2 and 4 inches within 1 hour. This caused a roof drain to overflow at the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack. Rain water infiltrated the structure resulting in the flooding of many stores, a partial wall collapse at a JC Penny's Department store and the evacuation of the mall.

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.
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

More

Every storm in New York in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, July 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: 5301498, 5301499, 5301500.