New York, 2002

Flash Flood in New York, May 28, 2002

May 28, 2002 · NWS BGM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
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 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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 28, 12:45 PM EST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 12:45 PM EST, 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
145 PM EDT TUE MAY 28 2002

BUSY MRNG AS SLOW MVG TRWS HAVE CAUSED ISLTD FLOODING PRBLMS AND
EVEN SVR. ETA/META SHOWS THE DISCREET LOW LVL BNDRY MVG ONLY SLOWLY
OVRNGT INTO WED AND FOCUSING CONT CONV OVER MANY OF THE SAME AREAS.
WEAK SHRT WV/S RIPPLING ALONG IN THE FLOW WILL SET OFF ENHANCED CONV
FEEDING ON THE JUICY AIR. CNCRN OVRNGT IS IN NE PA AND ERN SRN TIER
INTO THE WRN CATS. WITH THESE ZONES HAVING SOME VERY HARD HIT AREAS
TODAY AND LAST NGT...BELIEVE A FLOOD WATCH IS IN ORDER IN THOSE
ZONES.

TMRW...BNDRY OVR NY WASHES OUT WHILE A WEAK SHRT WV AND SFC LOW
ENHANCES THE LOW LVL CONV OVER THE PA ZONES...LTR...HTG AND SLY FLOW
WILL PRBLY BRING SCT TRWS OVER THE ENTIRE FCST AREA.

WED NGT BRINGS ANOTHER SHRT WV WHICH ENHANCES THE UVM AND TRIGGER
MORE TRWS...ESP OVER THE NY ZONES AS RDGG TAKES PLACE OVER NE PA.

ON THU...THERE DSN/T SEEM TO BE A PARTICULAR TRIGGER...JUST
WIDESPREAD INSTABILITY ENUF TO TRIGGER SCT TRWS.

.BGM...FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT
NYZ045-046-055>057-062-PA038>040-043-044-047-048

MORFORD

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Sullivan

When
May 28, 1:20 PM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where
Sullivan County, Narrowsburg
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
41.716, -74.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several roads were washed out from flash floods in Monticello. 4 inches of rain fell near Narrowsburg. The rain caused extensive washouts and culvert damage. In the Lake Huntington area several homes had serious basement flooding due to surface runoff and the fact that power was knocked out which disabled their sump pumps. County DPW said the most culvert damage was along 17B in Coopers corners. Road damage was also reported in Cochecton.

What these are

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, May 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: 5299329.