Name: Seiche in New York, March 9, 2002
Start: 2002-03-09T21:45
End: 2002-03-09T21:45
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: 0
Property damage: $35,000
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.

Winds over 50 knots on Lake Erie caused the water level to rise at the eastern end of the lake. The lake exceeded the 8' flood stage stage and peaked at 9.63" at 11:40PM on the 9th.

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 Mar 9, 9:42 PM EST, 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 9:42 PM EST, 3 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
942 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002

A VERY BUSY WEATHER NIGHT ACROSS THE FA

THE POWERFUL COLD FRONT HAS CLEARED MOST OF THE GENESEE VALLEY AND IS
BEARING DOWN ON THE FINGER LAKES. RECEIVED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF DOWNED
TREES AND POWER LINES ALONG WITH SOME REPORTS OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AS
THE BOUNDARY PASSED THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM SUNDAY FOR
OSWEGO...JEFFERSON AND LEWIS COUNTIES...BUT THE BULK OF THE
CONVECTION SHOULD CLEAR THE AREA BEFORE MIDNIGHT...SO WE WILL
PROBABLY CANCEL THE WATCH BEFORE IT EXPIRES.

10 MB 3-HOUR PRESSURE RISES BEHIND THE FRONT GUARANTEE THAT THE WINDS
WILL REMAIN VERY STRONG THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. THE STRONG WINDS HAVE
CAUSED THE LAKE LEVELS TO RISE QUICKLY AT THE EASTERN END OF LAKE
ERIE. THEREFORE A LAKESHORE WARNING FOR BEACH EROSION AND FLOODING
HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE EASTERN END OF LAKE ERIE...INCLUDING THE LAKE
SHORE AREAS OF ERIE COUNTY.

LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL GET ORGANIZED LATER TONIGHT AS THE SHEAR
DECREASES AND THE RESIDENCE TIME OVER THE LAKE INCREASES.

.BUF...HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021
       WIND ADVISORY SUNDAY NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021
       LAKE SHORE WARNING UNTIL 10Z NYZ010-LEZ041
       LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING FOR LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY
             NYZ010-011-019-020
       LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT
             NYZ006>008
       STORM WARNING LAKE ONTARIO TONIGHT
       GALE WARNING LAKE ONTARIO SUNDAY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 9, 7:52 PM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO, NY
752 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0628 PM    RIPLEY                    NY   51 MPH NON TSTM WIND GUST
03/09/02   CHAUTAUQUA

0702 PM    DUNKIRK                   NY   60 MPH NON TSTM WIND GUST
03/09/02   CHAUTAUQUA

0716 PM    NIAGARA FALLS             NY   66 MPH NON TSTM WIND GUST
03/09/02   NIAGARA

0722 PM    BUFFALO NWS OFFICE        NY   59 MPH NON TSTM WIND GUST
03/09/02   ERIE

0730 PM    MILLGROVE                 NY   WIND DAMAGE
03/09/02   ERIE                           AWNINGS BLOWN OFF OF
                                          MOBILE HOMES REPORTED BY
                                          GENERAL PUBLIC

Local storm report, Mar 9, 8:34 PM EST, 1 hour 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO, NY
834 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0755 PM    BERGEN                    NY   65 MPH NON TSTM WIND GUST
03/09/02   GENESEE

RSH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 seiche. Local standard time, as filed.

Seiche, Erie

When: March 9, 9:45 PM EST
Where: Erie County, Angola
Property damage: $35,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Seiche: A standing wave in a lake or bay, pushed by wind or pressure, that flooded the shore.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New York in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5285364.