New York, 2002

Lightning Strike in New York, September 4, 2002

September 4, 2002 · NWS BGM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, 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 Sep 3, 9:05 PM EST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 3, 9:05 PM EST, 3 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
1005 PM EDT TUE SEP 3 2002

SCATTERED TSTORM ACTIVITY STILL GOING ACROSS CENTRAL/ERN ZONES AHEAD
OF AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH. THIS AREA OF PRECIP SHOULD BE
OUT OF OUR ERN ZONES AROUND MIDNIGHT WITH SKIES BECOMING PARTLY
CLOUDY OVERNIGHT.

THE COLD AIR WILL ARRIVE IN TWO PIECES...ONE LATER TONIGHT WHEN THE
COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH...THEN ANOTHER TOMORROW NIGHT BEHIND A
SECONDARY TROUGH/COLD FRONT. BASED ON LATEST 18Z GUIDANCE BUMPED UP
HIGHS A BIT FOR WEDNESDAY AND MADE MINOR CHANGES TO THE WINDS.

VAN AUSDALL

--------------------------PREVIOUS DISCUSSION--------------------

ALL OF THE ACTIVE WX WILL BE OCCURRING WITHIN THE 1ST PD AS CDFNT
PASSES THE RGN TNGT. HIGH PRES BUILDS IN WITH GNRLY CLEAR/DRY
CONDITIONS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK.

NGM AND AVN SHOW AN ORGANIZED BAND OF FNTL CONVERGENCE MOVG THRU
LATE TDA AND THIS EVNG WHILE ETA MUCH LESS ORGANIZED. STILL SOME
QUESTION ON HOW THIS ALL WILL PAN OUT. AT ANY RATE BEST INSTAB WILL
BE OVER WRN ZONES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTN WHERE WATCH IS
CRNTLY IN EFFECT. AS CONVECTION TRIES TO MOV EWD THIS EVNG IT WILL
LOSE THE ADDED INSTABILITY DERIVED FROM DAYTIME HEATING...BUT STILL
CANT RULE OUT AN ISOLD STRONG STORM EARLY IN THE EVNG. WILL CONTINUE
WITH SCT TERMINOLOGY FOR THIS EVNG FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE RGN.

MOSTLY SUNNY TMRW...PARTLY SUNNY NRN ZONES AS SOME 850 MSTR SWEEPS
BY. MAINLY CLEAR/MOSTLY SUNNY WED NGT/THU WITH FAIR WX LIKELY
CONTINUING INTO THE WEEKEND...PSBLY A -SHRA IF THE FNT SAGS SWD INTO
THE RGN LATER SUNDAY INTO MONDAY.

.BGM...SEVERE TSTM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF THE FINGER LAKES AND
CENTRAL SOUTHERN TIER OF NEW YORK UNTIL 600 PM (NYZ022-015>018)

BRADY

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Sullivan

When
September 4, 1:00 AM EST to 4:00 AM EST
Where
Sullivan County, Countywide
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
41.716, -74.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Multiple thunderstorms with frequent lightning caused power outages countywide during the early morning hours. The Sullivan County 911 center in White Lake got struck by lightning around 3 AM EST. The lightning knocked out the global positioning system clock and the address location technology on dispatchers computers. Lightning knocked out the electricity in Jeffersonville, Callicoon Center, Fosterdale, and Liberty.

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, September 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: 5317764.