Flood — Northern Saratoga, New York

1996-01-19 to 1996-01-20 · Northern Saratoga, New York

Wider weather episode

An intense area of low pressure which was located over the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday morning January 19th produced unseasonably warm temperatures, high dewpoints and strong winds. This resulted in rapid melting of one to three feet of snow. In addition to the rapid snowmelt one to three inches of rain fell as the system moved northeast along the coast. This resulted in widespread flooding across Saratoga County including the flooding of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Small streams flooded across the entire county with many roads being washed out. Flooding was most severe in Waterford, Stillwater and Halfmoon. In Waterford the flooding of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers forced evacuation of 150 people and 180 dwellings had some damage. Many businesses along the Hudson River sustained damage including the Ursula of Switzerland which lost over 1 million dollars worth of women's clothes. Many roads were closed during the event including route 67 between between route 9 and Mechanicville, routes 4 and 32 north of Stillwater and parts of route 50. A seventy foot section of Vischer Ferry Road in Clifton Park was washed out where it crosses the Dwaas Kill. The flooding inundated 250 homes and businesses and over twenty roads were closed throughout the county.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5553411. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.