A warm and humid air mass was in place over eastern New York on Memorial Day (May 30th). With a cold front approaching from the west, lines of thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon and early evening hours and moved eastward across the region.
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The episode as NWS ALY wrote it up.
A warm and humid air mass was in place over eastern New York on Memorial Day (May 30th). With a cold front approaching from the west, lines of thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon and early evening hours and moved eastward across the region. One of these thunderstorms strengthened enough to become severe, producing damaging winds as it crossed across the greater Capital Region. Some trees and wires were downed due to these gusty winds.
The threat for thunderstorms ended later in the evening hours as the cold front crossed the area from west to east.
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 Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 30, 2:51 PM EST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albany NY 351 PM EDT MON MAY 30 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will move eastward across the region late this afternoon into this evening, bringing a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly from the Capital District south and east. A cooler and drier air mass will then be ushered in behind the cold front tonight into Tuesday. High pressure over southeast Canada will remain in control into Thursday with dry conditions and comfortable humidity levels. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING/... As of 351 PM EDT...Cold front moving eastward across central NY/PA with dewpoints dropping to the 50s west of the front in westerly flow. Ahead of the front across our area, dewpoints remain in the 60s with moisture southerly flow. Cu field building across parts of the area, mainly from I-90 southward across the higher terrain of the eastern Catskills and Helderbergs. There is a lone cell across northeast Warren county, otherwise most of the scattered convection is expected to be across the southern half of the area. It looks like the HRRR has somewhat poor convective initiation coverage too far the north and east. Radar showing initial activity across the central southern tier of NY and northeast PA. The WRF-ARW looks to have a better handle on the placement of convection, which focuses on the southern half of the area with scattered coverage. SPC mesoanalysis indicated around 1000-2000 J/Kg of SBCAPE across the area, with the higher values south of Albany. Effective deep layer shear is around 30 kt, but with continued poor mid level lapse rates and relatively weak synoptic scale forcing. So the Marginal Risk from the Storm Prediction Center still look reasonable, with most storms sub-severe with perhaps one or two rogue storms producing damaging wind gusts. Brief downpours can also be expected, although cells should move quicker today compared to yesterday with stronger flow aloft. Convection will gradually diminish this evening as the cold front pushes through and daytime heating is lost. There will continue to be a threat for some lingering showers/storms well southeast of Albany between 8 and 10 pm, then expected to diminish by midnight. Temperatures will be cooler than recent nights as drier air work in from the west, with lows forecast to be in the lower 50s to lower 60s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... Tuesday looks to be another warm day across the region, but due to deep mixing and gusty west-northwest winds with comfortable humidity levels. It will not feel as muggy as the past several days with dewpoints in the mid 40s to mid 50s. Wind gusts of 20-25 mph will be common with a decent pressure gradient in place. Winds will decrease Tuesday night as high pressure builds eastward into Quebec. With a dry air mass in place this will result in cool mid temps in the mid 40s to mid 50s. Tranquil weather will persist Wednesday into Wednesday night, as high pressure drifts eastward across Quebec and northern New England. Temperatures look to be slightly above normal during this time. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... General upper level zonal flow with small upper impulses tracking through the zonal flow...with considerable timing and track differences in sources of long range guidance and ensembles. There is a broad consensus for two upper impulses...once around Thursday night and Friday...and another potentially stronger upper impulse... potentially developing into an upper low...possibly developing over the Great Lakes and slowly approach later next weekend and into the beginning of next week. So...dry weather Thursday ahead of one small piece of upper energy. Highs in the mid 70s to around 80. The upper impulse is quite broad and of low amplitude but indications are a gradual cooling of boundary layer temperatures and broad low level convergence supporting scattered showers and maybe isolated thunderstorms Friday with highs in the 70s...but around 70 higher terrain. Some broad flat upper ridging timed for sometime between Friday night and Sunday morning...again with details not clear because of spread in sources of guidance. Keeping isolated showers in the forecast but could very well be dry with periods of sun and clouds. Highs Saturday in the 70s to around 80. The aforementioned strong upper energy...possible an upper low forms around the Great Lakes Sunday into Monday and slowly approaches with increasing clouds and chances for showers...perhaps some isolated thunderstorms. More details will be available as we get nearer. Highs Sunday in the 70s to around 80. Highs Monday with prospects for better coverage of showers...in the upper 60s to mid 70s...some mid 60s in higher terrain. && .AVIATION /20Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... A cold front continues to move across western and central NY this afternoon. This front will move across eastern NY and western New England late this afternoon into the overnight period. High pressure will ridge in late tonight into tomorrow with fair and dry weather returning. VFR conditions have returned to all the TAF sites in the wake of the pre-frontal trough this morning. KPOU has now become VFR and the skies have started to clear. Expect SCT-BKN cumulus in the 3.5-5 kft AGL range and SCT-BKN cirrus with some isold-sct showers and thunderstorms especially from KALB-KPSF south and east btwn 20Z/MON to 00Z/TUE. The best chance of thunderstorms will be at KPSF and KPOU and a tempo group was used from 21Z-24Z for MVFR conditions...though brief lapses to IFR VSBYS are possible. Further north...VCSH groups were used. The cold front moves through in the evening...and the skies clear. The dewpt boundary lags a bit...so moisture left in the boundary layer coupled with clearing skies...and light to calm winds will allow for some MVFR/IFR mist or fog potentially at KGFL/KPOU/KPSF especially btwn 06Z-12Z. Enough mixing in the boundary layer may preclude any mist at KALB. VFR conditions should return after 12Z with strong subsidence and deeper mixing in the wake of the front. The winds will be south to southwest at 6-12 kts this afternoon with some gusts close to 20 kts at KGFL. The winds will become light to calm btwn 00Z-04Z. The winds will increase quickly from the west to northwest at 5-10 kts from 12Z onward. Outlook... Tuesday Night to Thursday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Thursday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Scattered SHRA. Friday: Moderate Operational Impact. Scattered SHRA. Friday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Isolated SHRA. Saturday: Low Operational Impact. Isolated SHRA. && .FIRE WEATHER... A cold front will move eastward across the region late this afternoon into this evening, bringing a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly from the Capital District south and east. A cooler and drier air mass will then be ushered in behind the cold front tonight into Tuesday. High pressure over southeast Canada will remain in control into Thursday with dry conditions and comfortable humidity levels. Relative humidity values will increase to between 80 and 100 percent tonight, then drop to minimum values of around 30 to 40 percent Tuesday afternoon. RH values will increase to between 75 and 90 percent Saturday night. Winds tonight will be southwest around 5 to 10 mph, becoming west- northwest around 10 to 15 mph with gusts of 20 to 25 mph on Tuesday. Winds Tuesday night will be northwest at 5 to 10 mph. && .HYDROLOGY... Scattered showers and thunderstorms mainly south and east of Albany will persist into the evening hours. Some of the storms could produce local downpours. They could produce some ponding and maybe some minor flooding in urban, poor drainage, and low lying areas. There should be minimal impacts on main stem rivers. With the passage of a cold front, dry weather will return overnight into Tuesday. High pressure will build in with dry weather continuing through the middle of the week. The next chance for showers will return late in the week as a frontal boundary approaches. For details on specific area rivers and lakes, including observed and forecast river stages and lake elevations, please visit the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service /AHPS/ graphs on our website. && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && SYNOPSIS...JPV NEAR TERM...JPV SHORT TERM...JPV LONG TERM...NAS AVIATION...Wasula FIRE WEATHER...JPV HYDROLOGY...JPV
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 414 PM EDT MON MAY 30 2016 CTZ001-013-MAZ001-025-NYZ032-033-038>043-047>054-058>061-063>066- 082>084-VTZ013>015-311100- NORTHERN LITCHFIELD-SOUTHERN LITCHFIELD-NORTHERN BERKSHIRE- SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE-NORTHERN HERKIMER-HAMILTON-SOUTHERN HERKIMER- SOUTHERN FULTON-MONTGOMERY-NORTHERN SARATOGA-NORTHERN WARREN- NORTHERN WASHINGTON-SCHOHARIE-WESTERN SCHENECTADY- EASTERN SCHENECTADY-SOUTHERN SARATOGA-WESTERN ALBANY-EASTERN ALBANY- WESTERN RENSSELAER-EASTERN RENSSELAER-WESTERN GREENE-EASTERN GREENE- WESTERN COLUMBIA-EASTERN COLUMBIA-WESTERN ULSTER-EASTERN ULSTER- WESTERN DUTCHESS-EASTERN DUTCHESS-NORTHERN FULTON-SOUTHEAST WARREN- SOUTHERN WASHINGTON-BENNINGTON-WESTERN WINDHAM-EASTERN WINDHAM- 414 PM EDT MON MAY 30 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWESTERN CONNECTICUT...WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS...EAST CENTRAL NEW YORK...EASTERN NEW YORK AND SOUTHERN VERMONT. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING...MAINLY SOUTH AND EAST OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT. MOST THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE...ALTHOUGH AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Albany radar (KENX), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:50 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree was reported down and on wires at the intersection of School Road and Bloomer Road in the village of Voorheesville as a result of thunderstorm winds.
Lightning struck a home on Lindsey Drive in Brunswick. The lightning struck the chimney and traveled down through the walls to the basement, where it started a fire. The home was reported to have significant damage.
Multiple trees were downed on Jordan Lane in Nassau due to thunderstorm high winds.
A tree and wires were reported down in Chatham due to thunderstorm winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New York in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, May 2016
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: 631226, 631235, 629737, 631228.