An upper level disturbance sparked strong to severe thunderstorms, mainly in the Capital District, during the afternoon hours of Friday, August 16th, 2019. These storms resulted in multiple reports of trees and wires down across Albany and Renssselaer counties, with over 12,000 homes and businesses without power.
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 ALY wrote it up.
An upper level disturbance sparked strong to severe thunderstorms, mainly in the Capital District, during the afternoon hours of Friday, August 16th, 2019. These storms resulted in multiple reports of trees and wires down across Albany and Renssselaer counties, with over 12,000 homes and businesses without power. There was also three confirmed microbursts in the Pine Hills neighborhood of Albany, Menands, and North Greenbush.
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 Aug 16, 3:15 PM EST, 1 hour 39 minutes earlier.
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</html>The Albany radar (KENX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:54 UTC.
17 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree with numerous limbs and branches was downed on Hartman Road in Albany.
A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed microbursts along the path of an intense thunderstorm that cross from Albany, NY to North Greenbush, NY. The team identified three areas in New York where microbursts occurred; the Pine Hills neighborhood of Albany, Menands and North Greenbush. The team observed several trees and large limbs down in the microburst areas. Some of these trees fell on homes and cars.
The microburst areas define the location of intense damage. For the most part, the microburst locations were within 1 mile by 0.5 mile rectangle. The wind speeds were derived from the degree of damage seen.
Trees were snapped with damage to multiple houses and cars.
Large tree limbs were downed onto wires on New Scotland Ave.
Multiple trees and wires down. Some trees fell onto cars and homes.
Large tree branches downed on Myrtle Ave.
A very large tree branch was broken off and hanging from a tree. Time estimated by radar.
Large tree was uprooted and crushed a car.
A power transformer blew which knocked power lines down. The power lines caught on fire on the ground and burned the WTEN studio sign.
A tree was downed, blocking N. Pearl St and Lindbergh Ave.
Route 4 north and south bound was closed due to a downed tree.
Many trees snapped in half and were sheared off at the top. There was also additional trees uprooted, powerlines down, and some street signs bent in half and pulled out of the ground.
A large tree was uprooted.
About a 1 mile stretch of damage from Stonegate apartments through the Winter Street extension, including many trees snapped and uprooted, wires downed, and plastic roofs blown off greenhouses at Yonder Farms.
Multiple trees were snapped and uprooted.
Wires were downed with a window blown out at at Cottage Street Apartments in Troy.
A large tree was downed blocking two lanes of traffic on Route 378.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New York in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, August 2019
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 849207, 849225, 849210, 849211, 849212, 849213, 849224, 849214, 849215, 849216, 849217, 849218, 849219, 849220, 849221, 849222, 849223, 849206.