Flash flooding was due to an inch and a half to two and a half inches of precipitation mostly in the form of rain. Most of the rain fell in a 12 hour period during the day on the 26th.
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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.
The episode as NWS BGM wrote it up.
Flash flooding was due to an inch and a half to two and a half inches of precipitation mostly in the form of rain. Most of the rain fell in a 12 hour period during the day on the 26th. The rain fell onto a saturated snow covered ground. Snow depths were only a few inches with water equivalents less than an inch. Creeks and streams flooded in the area the evening of the 26th. The Susquehanna River also flooded on the 27th and 28th. The rain was caused by a strong slow moving surface low in West Virginia the morning of the 26th. That evening the low moved to Erie, Pennsylvania before picking up speed to be in Maine the morning of the 27th. Broome, Delaware, and Otsego Counties were in an overrunning event on the north side of a warm front.
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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 26, 5:25 PM EST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 525 PM EST TUE MAR 26 2002 UPGRADED THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO A WARNING FOR FREEZING RAIN FOR PORTIONS OF THE SUSQ RGN AND WRN MOHAWK VLY. NUMEROUS RPTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...AND WORKSTATION ETA/RUC INDICATE SFC TEMPS WILL BE VERY SLOW TO RISE OVER THESE AREAS AS MDT TO HEAVY PCPN CONTINUES INTO THE EVNG. ****************************************************************** RADARS CONTINUE TO SHOW PLENTY OF RAIN ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA CONTINUING TO STREAM NORTHEAST AHEAD OF SFC LOW PRESSURE MOVING OUT OF THE OHIO VALLEY. WESTERN AREAS CHANGED OVER TO RAIN LATE THIS MORNING WHILE FAR NORTH AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS FROM BGM EAST CONTINUE TO REMAIN AT OR JUST BELOW FREEZING. TREES AND POWER LINES HERE ON THE HILL HAVE ACCUMULATED QUITE A BIT OF ICE. EXPECT THAT THE TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TO NUDGE UP SLOWLY REMAINDER OF THIS AFTN INTO EARLY EVENING SO THAT JUST ABOUT ALL AREAS WILL BE SEEING JUST RAIN THIS EVENING. AM LEANING TOWARD LETTING ADVISORIES GO THIS AFTN BUT KEEPING FZRA ACROSS THE HILLTOPS IN EASTERN AREAS IN THE ZONES. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS NOW PROGGED TO CROSS THROUGH CENTRAL AND NORTHERN PA TONIGHT. ETA JUST A TAD FURTHER SOUTHEAST THAN AVN BUT BOTH SIMILAR. STRONG UPR LVL DIVERGENCE IN RR QUAD OF UPR LVL JET TONIGHT. CONVECTION A SMALL POSSIBILITY THIS EVENING. LIGHTNING STRIKES NOTED EARLIER ACROSS CENTRAL PA BUT THESE ARE GONE NOW. ABOUT AN ADDITIONAL HALF INCH OF QPF EXPECTED TONIGHT BRINGING THE TOTAL TO 1.00-2.00 SOME ISOLATED HEAVIER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. SOME OF THIS QPF WILL BE LOCKED UP ACROSS THE HILLTOPS DUE TO THE PROLONGED FREEZING RAIN THIS AFTN. ALSO, EVEN WITH THE RAIN, THE COOL TEMPS ARE KEEPING THE SNOW FROM MELTING TOO MUCH. THUS, WE DO NOT ANTICIPATE FLOODING PROBLEMS ATTM WITH RECENT DRY CONDITIONS. WEDNESDAY...WESTERLY FLOW WILL FOLLOW IN WAKE OF LOW PRESSURE AS IT MOVES ACROSS NEW ENGLAND. MODEL SOUNDINGS AND LOW LVL RH PROGS SHOW LOW LVL MOISTURE REMAINING TRAPPED BENEATH SUB INVERSION. WILL INDICATE SOME PARTIAL CLEARING DURING THE AFTERNOON. WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MAINLY CLEAR OR PTCLDY IN ALL ZONES WITH SFC HIGH OVR OHIO VLY. THURSDAY...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE IN PLACE BEFORE NEXT SYSTEM THURSDAY NIGHT. WILL FORECAST MOSTLY SUNNY BUT INCREASE CLDS LATER IN THE DAY FOR WESTERN AREAS. .BGM...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR FREEZING RAIN FOR PORTIONS OF THE SUSQ RGN AND WRN MOHAWK VLY. BRADY
The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 14 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:53 UTC.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Choconut Creek flooded in Vestal. The Stratton Mill Creek flooded in Kirkwood. The city of Binghamton had urban street flooding.
The Charlotte Creek in the town of Davenport was out of its banks flooding county route 11.
The Charlotte Creek flooded near Emmons.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New York in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, March 2002
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: 5284021, 5284022, 5284023.