A warm front lifted north across the region Monday morning which created an unstable air mass across the state of New York and Pennsylvania. By late Monday afternoon, a cold front moved into western New York and Pennsylvania which produced a line of thunderstorms.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 BGM wrote it up.
A warm front lifted north across the region Monday morning which created an unstable air mass across the state of New York and Pennsylvania. By late Monday afternoon, a cold front moved into western New York and Pennsylvania which produced a line of thunderstorms. As the thunderstorms moved east, coverage became widespread and a major severe weather outbreak ensued for central New York and northeast Pennsylvania. Some of the thunderstorms produced winds between 70 and 100 mph. Numerous trees were knocked down and there were widespread power outages some of which lasted for several days.
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 1, 3:15 PM EST, 1 hour earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Binghamton NY 415 PM EDT Mon May 1 2017 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will move through the area this afternoon and evening with thunderstorms and showers. Some of the thunderstorms may have damaging winds and heavy rain. Much cooler air with scattered showers will be across the area Tuesday and Wednesday. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING/... 330 PM update... Tornado watch now in effect until 10 PM for western three quarters of cwa. Very strong wind fields with speed shear due to increasing winds with height and low level turning. Some clearing ahead of the solid line in western NY/western PA has created low level instability due to surface heating. This will all translate east. Line moves into Steuben between 4 and 5 PM then to SYR around 6 pm, BGM 7/8 PM, AVP 9 PM. In the southeast low level clouds have been slow to erode today keeping it much cooler and also more stable. At this time not sure if a watch will be needed for the far eastern counties. Other problems could be heavy rain. Amounts in the strongest storms over one inch. This could cause minor problems. With this one line being the whole show for now flooding is not expected to be that much. Movement is slow now but some increase in forward speed is expected. Will continue to hold off on a flash flood watch. Late evening into early morning showers end and the front goes through. Colder air slow to move in the lows in the low and mid 50s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... 330 PM Update... A stacked low moves northeast from the Midwest into the Great Lakes Tuesday into Tuesday night. A westerly flow of cool moist air will keep showers across the area this period. The best chance will be in NY. Amounts will be light. Some sun but with the cooler air high temperatures only get to 55 to 60 in NY and around 60 PA Tuesday. Wednesday even colder with highs mostly 50 to 55. Low temperatures Tuesday night around 40. With little clearing and winds at 10 mph, frost is not likely. Rainfall amounts under half an inch with the highest Syracuse/Utica. Near zero for Scranton. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... 335 PM Update... Models disagree on the details but are solid on the overall picture of a large showery upper low dropping over our region and persisting in our vicinity for most of the period. Before the low, a passing surface high Wednesday night will first lead to a brief window of less cloud cover and radiational cooling, resulting in lows in the mid to upper 30s. Some of our coldest pockets could get to around freezing, something to keep in mind for those who have vulnerable plants out early. Upper low then brings an extended period of cool wet weather. On Thursday, moist warm air advection aloft will cause showers to develop. The surface warm front itself will struggle to reach our region, holding highs back to mainly 50s for Thursday and upper 50s-lower 60s Friday. With the low drifting directly overhead, our main batch of rain will be Thursday night through Friday. Periods of showers can then still be expected through the weekend with instability of cold air aloft, and lobes of vorticity pinwheeling around the upper low. All told, easily 1 to 2 inches of rain could be spread out over the Thursday through Sunday period with perhaps locally higher amounts. Not too concerned yet hydrology-wise but something to keep an eye on as details become clearer. At a minimum we can expect some elevated water levels and higher stream flows. Highs will only be in the 50s over the weekend and probably into Monday. && .AVIATION /20Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... 130 pm update... MVFR ceiling fuel alternate hanging on at AVP until around 21z. BGM could return briefly to MVFR ceiling until 20z. Rest of sites VFR for now but IFR/MVFR expected as a solid line of thunderstorms comes east ahead of a cold front. Thunderstorms will have heavy rain and gusty winds. Visibilities could fall to IFR while ceilings fall to MVFR starting at 21z in the west to 02z at AVP. Bad weather will last 2 or 3 hours. Behind this a few hours of light rain showers with possibly a MVFR ceiling late evening. Late tonight ceilings mostly VFR. Tuesday VFR everywhere. Southeast to south winds at 10 kts shifting to south or southwest. Late afternoon into early evening some gusts to 20 kts. Late evening shift to west wind. Tuesday west winds at 10 to 15 kts with higher gusts. Outlook... Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night...Mainly VFR but a chance of showers and associated restrictions at times mostly in NY. Thursday through Friday...Restrictions likely with rain from slow-moving low pressure system. Saturday...restrictions possible in showers. && .BGM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...None. NY...None. && SYNOPSIS...DGM/TAC NEAR TERM...DGM/TAC SHORT TERM...TAC LONG TERM...MDP AVIATION...TAC
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Binghamton NY 225 PM EDT Mon May 1 2017 NYZ046-057-062-PAZ040-048-072-021830- Otsego-Delaware-Sullivan-Northern Wayne-Pike-Southern Wayne- 225 PM EDT Mon May 1 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central New York and northeast Pennsylvania. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. Thunderstorms are expected to develop ahead of an approaching cold front this afternoon and evening. The Storm Prediction Center has an enhanced risk of severe weather for our area, with the main threat being damaging winds. Isolated tornadoes are also possible. Some storms may also contain heavy rainfall leading to potential localized urban and small stream flooding. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will likely be needed. NYZ009-015>018-022>025-036-037-044-045-055-056-PAZ038-039-043-044- 047-021830- Northern Oneida-Yates-Seneca-Southern Cayuga-Onondaga-Steuben- Schuyler-Chemung-Tompkins-Madison-Southern Oneida-Cortland-Chenango- Tioga-Broome-Bradford-Susquehanna-Wyoming-Lackawanna-Luzerne- 225 PM EDT Mon May 1 2017 ...TORNADO WATCH 185 IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EDT THIS EVENING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central New York and northeast Pennsylvania. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the Internet for more information about the following hazards. Tornado Watch. Thunderstorms are expected to develop ahead of an approaching cold front this afternoon and evening. The Storm Prediction Center has an enhanced risk of severe weather for our area, with the main threat being damaging winds. Isolated tornadoes are also possible. Some storms may also contain heavy rainfall leading to potential localized urban and small stream flooding. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will likely be needed.
The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:14 UTC.
24 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced a severe wind gust of 51 knots.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees and power lines.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked trees over which blocked roadways.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked down power lines.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over a tree which damaged a trailer and created localized power outages.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees and power lines.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees and power lines in Manlius and in north Syracuse.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over multiple trees and power lines which blocked roadways.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over a tree on a house and produced structural damage.
Lightning struck a tree.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked trees over.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and uprooted several trees in the area.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees and power lines. This thunderstorm also hit a transformer by lightning.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over multiple trees in Vestal Center.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced a severe wind gust of 52 knots.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees and power lines near Four Corners area.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees which caused structural damage on a house.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and caused a large number of trees to be uprooted.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over multiple trees in the cities of Preston, New Berlin, Oxford, and Guilford.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees and power lines at the intersection of route 12 and 80. This intersection was also flooded.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over trees. The National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York conducted a storm survey and found microburst winds ranging between 90 to 100 mph. At least 100 healthy trees were snapped or uprooted around the city of Norwich reservoir along route 23.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over, uprooted and sheared trees just north of the village of Oxford.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced damaging winds.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked trees over on Shacktown mountain road.
A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over numerous trees and power lines.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New York in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, May 2017
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: 703813, 703790, 703791, 703792, 703793, 703794, 703814, 703795, 703796, 703789, 703797, 703799, 703800, 703815, 703816, 703801, 703805, 703806, 703807, 703808, 703809, 703810, 703811, 703812, 703826.