Flash Flood — Erie, New York

2025-06-18 · near Helmuth, Erie, New York

Event narrative

Water flowing down Sand Hill Road over US Route 62 in Gowanda.

Wider weather episode

Showers and thunderstorms developed along a Lake Erie lake breeze boundary during the late morning of June 18th. With the very high moisture laden airmass over the area, heavy rain occurred within some of the showers and thunderstorms that developed. Some of the thunderstorms, especially early, trained over the same area long enough to cause flash flooding issues. Additional showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon ahead of a slow moving cold front over Lake Ontario, causing additional heavy rainfall for portions of the area. Most of the flooding occurred in portions of the western Southern Tier and in the northern Finger Lakes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.4750, -78.9242)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1273889. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.