New York, 2002

High Wind in New York, March 3, 2002

March 3, 2002 · NWS BTV · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A complex storm system, with centers over Lake Huron and central New York state on Sunday morning, March 3rd, moved northeast. This system consolidated into one storm and reached Labrador early Monday, March 4th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
$10,000
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 BTV wrote it up.

A complex storm system, with centers over Lake Huron and central New York state on Sunday morning, March 3rd, moved northeast. This system consolidated into one storm and reached Labrador early Monday, March 4th. Strong winds accompanied the associated cold front which moved across the area during the late afternoon and evening of March 3rd. Trees were reported down across Essex county, New York, especially in the towns of Wilmington and Ticonderoga, with power out in Westport.

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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 3:40 PM EST, 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 3, 3:40 PM EST, 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
340 PM EST SUN MAR 3 2002

STRONG POST-FRONTAL WINDS STILL CRANKING UP ACROSS WESTERN AND
CENTRAL NEW YORK STATE...SPREADING EASTWARD AT THIS HOUR.  STILL
FEEL CONFIDENT WITH THE WIND ADVISORY IN THE SAINT LAWRENCE VALLEY
THROUGH THIS EVENING...AND CANT DISCOUNT THE LIKELIHOOD OF
DAMAGING WINDS IN THE ADIRONDACKS AS THE WIND SPEEDS INCREASE OVER
THE NEXT FEW HOURS.  TEMPERATURES FALLING AS ADVERTISED BEHIND THE
FRONT...LEAVING TODAYS RECORD MAX TEMPERATURES IN THE DUST.

RAPID CLEARING EXPECTED THROUGH THE LATE EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS...WITH DIMINISHING WINDS AS DRY SURFACE RIDGE AXIS RAPIDLY
ADVECTS EASTWARD.  DESPITE SUPER-ADIABATIC LOW-LEVEL LAPSE RATES
TOMORROW...MOISTURE SO SCARCE WITH THIS AIRMASS THAT HAVE ONLY
MENTIONED MOUNTAIN FLURRIES FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON.  MAX TEMPERATURES
WILL BE LUCKY TO RISE MORE THAN 5F ABOVE 12 UTC MIN TEMPERATURES.

THERE IS SOME QUESTION AS TO HOW FAR NORTHWARD THE LAKE EFFECT SNOWS
WILL DRIFT MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...AND HOW COHESIVE ANY BANDING
MIGHT BE.  AT THIS POINT WE WILL OPT TO LEAVE MENTION OF LAKE EFFECT
SNOWS OUT OF THE SAINT LAWRENCE VALLEY AND THE ADIRONDACKS.

MEDIUM RANGE...BY TUESDAY NIGHT THE WARM FRONTAL PRECIP AHEAD OF THE
NEXT NORTHERN BRANCH SYSTEM BEGINS TO EXTEND TOWARD NORTHERN NEW
YORK.  HAVE INTRODUCED A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS TUESDAY NIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY IN NORTHERN NEW YORK...WITH ONLY FLURRIES IN NORTHERN AND
CENTRAL VERMONT AS THE LOW SLIDES PAST TO OUR NORTH.  A STRONG AND
FAIRLY COLD ANTICYCLONE BUILDS OVER THE NORTHEAST ON THURSDAY...AND
GOING ALONG WITH PREVIOUS THINKING AND HPC DISCUSSIONS...HAVE KEPT
TEMPERATURES COOLER THAN MRF GUIDANCE.  INFLUENCE OF NEXT WRAPPED-UP
SYSTEM UPSTREAM NOT LIKELY TO AFFECT OUR AREA UNTIL FRIDAY
NIGHT INTO SATURDAY FOR THE WARM FRONTAL PRECIP...THEN THE COLD
FRONT SWINGS PAST ON SUNDAY AS YET ANOTHER LOW TRACKS WEST OF THE
FORECAST AREA.

ST. JEAN

.BTV...HIGH WIND WARNING NYZ029>031-034 FOR THIS EVENING.
       WIND ADVISORY NYZ026-027 FOR THIS EVENING.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Western Essex

When
March 3, 4:00 PM EST to 4:45 PM EST
Where
Western Essex forecast zone
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
44.117, -73.773 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Eastern Essex

When
March 3, 4:10 PM EST to 4:45 PM EST
Where
Eastern Essex forecast zone
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
44.117, -73.773 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, March 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: 5285428, 5285427.