High Wind — Eastern Rensselaer, New York

2024-04-03 to 2024-04-04 · Eastern Rensselaer, New York

Event narrative

Between the hours of 6 AM and midnight on April 3, high wind gusts between 40 and 70 mph occurred with an isolated, maximum wind gust of 85 mph measured by a trained spotter at a Wind Farm in Petersburgh, NY in Rensselaer County. High wind gusts resulted in significant damage to a barn on the property of the farm. Part of the roof of said barn was peeled off and blown 500 feet away from where the barn stands. The 30'x14' piece of roofing was also damaged, having split into two pieces upon hitting the ground.

Wider weather episode

A potent Miller Type B storm system (weakening low pressure to the west over the Great Lakes and strengthening low off the east coast) brought locally strong to damaging wind gusts, rain, and heavy, wet snow to eastern New York over the period of April 3-5, 2024. The greatest snowfall totals accumulated at the higher terrain regions of the Southern Adirondacks and Helderbergs where totals ranged from 7 to 12 inches with locally higher totals of 13 to 17 inches in the Southern Adirondacks. Elsewhere, totals ranging from less than 1 inch to 6 inches were common with the Mid-Hudson Valley generally accumulating the least amount of snow.

This storm also produced strong to locally damaging wind gusts across eastern New York. While most recorded gusts generally ranged from about 30 to 45 mph, a few gusts ranging from 50 to 65 mph were recorded. An isolated, maximum gust of 85 mph was recorded in Rensselaer County which lead to the significant damage to a barn on a farm in the town of Petersburgh.

The timing of some of the greatest snowfall rates intersecting the morning commute on April 4 made for hazardous conditions in many areas, leading to traffic delays. Additionally, the weight of heavy, wet snow paired with strong to locally damaging winds lead to numerous disruptions to traffic patterns and power outages from downed wires and trees.

Key Impacts: travel delays, power outages, property damage, school closures.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1175367. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.