Thunderstorm Wind — Fulton, New York

2016-08-13 · near Canada Lake, Fulton, New York

Event narrative

At least 59 structures and 18 vehicles were damaged or destroyed at Pine Lake Campground due to downed trees from thunderstorm winds. An estimated 200 trees fell at the campground and 8 people were injured due to being struck by downed trees and limbs. Every electrical wire at the 66 acre campground was downed. The damage was estimated to be more than $1 million.

Wider weather episode

On the morning of Saturday, August 13th, a warm front lifted northward across the region. This allowed a very warm and excessively humid air mass to be in place over the area. As temperatures rose through the 80s and into the 90s, dewpoints were unusually high in the mid to upper 70s. By the afternoon hours, this produced heat index values over 100 degrees in many valley areas, with some spots in the mid-Hudson Valley seeing heat index values approach 110 degrees.

At the same time, a surface cold front was approaching the area from the west. Some clusters of thunderstorms developed in the early to mid afternoon hours across the Lake George-Saratoga Region, producing damage to trees and power lines. In addition, one storm in the Lake George area contained a lightning strike, which injured multiple people huddled under a tree.

By the evening hours, a more organized line of thunderstorms moved from west to east across all of eastern Upstate New York. This line produced widespread wind damage, with the most concentrated damage in the Pine Lake area of northwestern Fulton County.

In addition to the gusty winds, the thunderstorms also produced a significant amount of cloud-to-ground lightning. Over 50,000 customers lost power at the height of the storms as a result of the gusty winds and lightning strikes.

Thunderstorms ended with the passage of the cold front during the overnight hours.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.1897, -74.5210)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 653484. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.