Low pressure tracked across the eastern Great Lakes bringing strong winds to the Niagara Frontier, western Southern Tier, and Genesee Valley of New York. Sustained winds were measured to 44 mph while gusts to 63 mph were recorded.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 BUF wrote it up.
Low pressure tracked across the eastern Great Lakes bringing strong winds to the Niagara Frontier, western Southern Tier, and Genesee Valley of New York. Sustained winds were measured to 44 mph while gusts to 63 mph were recorded. The winds downed trees and power lines and poles. Tens of thousands were without power. A car was demolished by a fallen tree in East Pembroke while another sustained damage in Snyder. Some roads were temporarily closed by downed trees, limbs and live wires.
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 Dec 7, 6:20 PM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
620 PM EST TUE DEC 07 2004
.UPDATE NUMBER 2...
JUST UPGRADED WIND ADVIS TO HIGH WIND WARNG FOR WRN COUNTIES. WINDS
STILL MARGINAL WARNING CRITERIA ALONG NE OHIO LAKESHORE AND THESE
WILL ADVECT INTO WRN NY NEXT FEW HOURS. 18Z ETA SHOWS 60 KT MAX AT
ABOUT 2500 FT...MOST OF WHICH SHOULD MIX DOWN WHEN WINDS TURN 250
WITH ADDITIONAL FUNNELLING UP LK ERIE. 988 LOW NOT WEAKENING YET
EITHER. STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE ALONG LK ERIE SHORE AND FROM BUF TO
ROC...BUT DONT WANT TO GET TOO CUTE SO BROADBRUSHED ALL WRN COUNTIES
AS SOME HIGHER ELEVS OF SRN TIER COULD GET CLOSE TOO. REST OF PREV
DISC FOLLOWS...
RAPIDLY CHANGING WX CONDITIONS ACROSS WRN NY EARLY THIS EVENING AS
DEEP 988 MB LOW PASSES FROM SE MICH ACROSS SRN ONTARIO JUST TO OUR N
AND W. TEMPS SOARING IN WARM SECTOR AND MAY REACH 60...A FEW
LIGHTNING STRIKES ACROSS SRN TIER...WILL ISSUE QUICK UPDATE TO
REWORD SITUATION. ALSO AM KEEPING AN EYE ON WIND SITUATION UPSTREAM.
CLEVE AREA HAS SEEN GUSTS OVER 50 KTS PAST HOUR...WILL MONITOR
PROGRESS NEXT HOUR AND MAY UPGRADE WIND ADVISORY TO HIGH WIND
WARNING. REST OF FCST FOLLOWS...
.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)...
THE LOW MOVES EAST OFF THE ATLANTIC COAST WEDNESDAY, AND THE AIR
BEHIND IS NOT COLD ENOUGH TO GENERATE LAKE PRECIPITATION, BUT LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE LINGERS, SO CLOUDS WILL BE SLOW TO OPEN UP ON
WEDNESDAY. A LOW OVER THE UPPER PLAINS WILL BRING A MODERATING
SOUTHERLY FLOW ON THURSDAY WITH NOTHING MORE THAN SOME MIDDLE AND
UPPER CLOUDS. THEN AS THE LOW MOVES TO ILLINOIS, A THREAT OF RAIN
WILL DEVELOP LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. THE LOW MOVES ACROSS THE LOWER
LAKES FRIDAY WITH RAIN LIKELY AGAIN...THEN CHANGING TO A MIX
OVERNIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT.
&&
.LONG TERM (SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)...
UPPER LOW LIFTING OUT AT THE START OF THE PERIOD WITH ASSOCIATED
SURFACE LOW BRINGING THE POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS
SATURDAY. ANOTHER SHARP UPPER TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW WILL
DEVELOP QUICKLY INTO THE GREAT LATE BY SUNDAY. THIS SYSTEM SHOULD
INCREASE CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION SUNDAY. THE UPPER TROUGH
EVENTUALLY FORMS A CUT OFF OVER EASTERN CANADA BY LATE MONDAY WITH
PLENTY OF COLD AIR DIVING INTO THE AREA FOR THE LATER PORTION OF THE
PERIOD. AT THIS POINT...IT LOOKS LIKE A DECENT POTENTIAL FOR LAKE
EFFECT SNOWS TO DEVELOP EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE LAKES IN THE
MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY TIME FRAME...AS 850 MB TEMPERATURES DROP INTO
THE -15C TO -18C RANGE.
&&
.AVIATION...
KBUF AND KTYX RADARS SHOWING WIDESPREAD RAIN ACROSS THE AREA...
BASICALLY FROM A BUFFALO TO PENN YAN TO BINGHAMTON LINE. THIS IS
ALONG SURFACE WARM FRONTAL ZONE. SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT THE
ACTIVITY HAS DIMINISHED TO WIDELY SCATTERED/SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS.
AS THE WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH TONIGHT...THE RAIN WILL DIMINISH
ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER AREAS AS WELL. PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
WILL BE IN PLACE RESULTING IN GENERALLY MVFR CEILINGS ACROSS THE
AREA WITH MAINLY VFR VISIBILITIES DEVELOPING SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT.
WRAP AROUND MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH A SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL WORK
INTO THE AREA AFTER 00Z TONIGHT AND CONTINUE TO 06Z WEDNESDAY
MORNING IN THE FORM OF LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE. THE ACTIVITY SHOULD
DIMINISH BY 12Z WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE FORECAST CONCERN TONIGHT WILL
BE THE STRONG WINDS DEVELOPING IN THE WAKE OF THE COLD FRONT.
MODEL/BUFKIT PROFILES SUGGESTING SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 30 KNOTS
GUSTING TO 40 TO 45 KNOTS. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED JUST
DOWNWIND OF LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO. THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT
WILL SLACKEN BY 12Z WEDNESDAY AND WINDS SHOULD DIMINISH DURING
WEDNESDAY MORNING.
BEFORE THE STRONG WINDS DEVELOP BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WIND FIELDS
ALOFT WILL BE 50-60 KTS AROUND 2 KFT THROUGH 02Z TONIGHT...AND WITH
SIGNIFICANT DIRECTIONAL/SPEED SHEAR BETWEEN THIS LEVEL AND THE
SURFACE...LLWS WILL BE CONTINUED.
&&
.MARINE...
GOOD COLD ADVECTION BEHIND THE TRAILING COLD FRONT TONIGHT WILL
RESULT IN THE TRANSLATION OF THE STRONG WIND SPEEDS ALOFT DOWN TO
THE SURFACE. WITH 50-60 KT WINDS AT 2 KFT AND 40-45 KTS IN THE SFC-1
KFT LAYER...WE SHOULD EASILY SEE HIGH END GALE FORCE WINDS ON BOTH
LAKES...BEGINNING AROUND 02Z THIS EVENING ON LAKE ERIE AND BY 04Z
THIS EVENING ON LAKE ONTARIO. THEREFORE...GALE WARNINGS WILL BE
CONTINUED FOR THE ALL NEARSHORE AND OPEN WATERS OF BOTH LAKES. SMALL
CRAFT ADVISORIES WILL ALSO BE POSTED FOR THE SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER
BEGINNING TONIGHT.
AT THIS TIME...THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY SUBSIDE TO BELOW
GALE FORCE ON BOTH LAKES DURING WEDNESDAY MORNING.
&&
.BUF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NY...WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT NYZ001>003-006>008-010>012-019>021-085
MARINE...GALE WARNING LEZ020-040-041
GALE WARNING LOZ042>045-060
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY SLZ022-024
UPDATE...MCLAUGHLIN
SHORT TERM...APB
LONG TERM...TMA
AVIATION...TMA
MARINE...TMAHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 1200 PM EST TUE DEC 7 2004 NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021-085-080955- ALLEGANY-CATTARAUGUS-CHAUTAUQUA-GENESEE-JEFFERSON-LEWIS-LIVINGSTON- MONROE-NIAGARA-NORTHERN CAYUGA-NORTHERN ERIE-ONTARIO-ORLEANS-OSWEGO- SOUTHERN ERIE-WAYNE-WYOMING- 1200 PM EST TUE DEC 7 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEW YORK. .DAY ONE... STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT FOR AREAS DOWNWIND OF LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO AND ALSO FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN TIER AS DEEP LOW PRESSURE TRACKS JUST TO OUR NORTH. WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MUCH COLDER WEATHER IS LIKELY LATE IN THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. LAKE EFFECT SNOW COULD PRESENT SOME PROBLEMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... APB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New York in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, December 2004
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: 5429178, 5429179, 5429180, 5429181, 5429222, 5429223, 5429224, 5429225.