High Wind — Northern Westchester, New York

2000-12-12 · Northern Westchester, New York

Wider weather episode

High winds developed rapidly in an unstable air mass following the passage of a strong cold front across the area. Several measured peak wind gusts were at least 58 mph. They were responsible for causing 1 death and at least 6 injuries, as follows: At 9:05 am, a tree fell through a car wind shield and injured 1 person in Islip (Suffolk County).At 9:30 am, a street sign struck and injured 2 pedestrians in Kings County (Brooklyn).At 9:40 am, a sign struck and injured 1 person in Flatbush (Brooklyn) and a tree fell on and injured 1 person in Great Neck (Nassau County).At 10:30 am, a sign struck a police car, which caused injury to 1 person in Patchogue (Suffolk County).At 1:00 pm, a man was crushed by a tree while trying to remove a branch that dangled over the driveway of a house at 135 Heatherdell Road in Ardsley (Westchester County).High winds downed many trees onto houses, cars, power lines, and streets. In urban areas, high winds downed signs, collapsed scaffolds, and caused five partial building collapses. They caused significant property damage and power outages. On the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens, 2 tractor trailers flipped with unknown additional injuries. In Brooklyn, high winds combined with high astronomical tides drove water from New York Harbor over retaining walls that flooded parts of the Belt Parkway near the Verrazano Bridge. In Rockland County, wind blew off part of the roof at Suffern Middle School.Here are selected specific peak wind gusts for:Orange County - The peak measured wind gust reported by a spotter in Warwick was 64 mph. Peak wind gusts measured by the Automated Surface Observing Systems at Stewart Field Airport in Newburgh was 53 mph at 8:45 am and at Montgomery Airport was 50 mph at 9:58 am.Queens County - Peak wind gusts measured by the Automated Surface Observing System at JFK Airport was 60 mph at 9:46 am and at LaGuardia Airport was 54 mph at 8:59 am.Suffolk County - Peak wind gusts measured by the Automated Surface Observing System at:Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach was 58 mph at 10:24 am.Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley and Islip MacArthur Airport was 54 mph at 10:08 am and 10:19 am respectively.Republic Airport in Farmingdale was 53 mph at 9:35 am.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5169464. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.