Lakeshore Flood — Northern Erie, New York

2024-11-20 · Northern Erie, New York

Event narrative

The water level at Buffalo reached 9.175 feet at the NOAA/National Ocean Service gage located at the U.S. Coast Guard station.

Wider weather episode

On the evening of November 20th, a strong occluded front tracked northeast across most of the Buffalo County Warning Area. Behind this front, strong winds increased out of the southwest to 45 to 55 MPH, especially over Lake Erie and areas near the lake. While the increase in wind only lasted about 4 hours, the sudden increase in the winds with the front, and the north to northeast direction of the winds prior to the front, caused a meteotsunami to develop on Lake Erie.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1225418. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.