Power Outage in Greenville, NY

An upper level ridge over the western Atlantic Ocean which had been building westward for a couple of days prior to June 28 began to slowly retreat on June 28 as an upper level trough over the Mississippi Valley began drifting very slowly eastward. A frontal boundary which had drifted westward into western New York on June 27 began drifting eastward and was over east central New York at daybreak on June 28. A small low pressure was in the vicinity of the eastern Southern Tier of New York State. This was a weak cyclone of tropical origin. A band of heavy rainfall occurred just to the southeast of the front. The heaviest rainfall was from the eastern Southern Tier of New York State to the southern Adirondacks. Three to 5 inches of rainfall occurred in east central New York over about a 24-hour period from daybreak June 27 to June 28. And from June 26 to 28, nearly 10 inches of rain occurred in the southern Adirondacks according to radar estimates. Additional rainfall occurred on the morning of June 28 as the tropical cyclone moved northward through eastern New York State.The heavy rainfall produced widespread flooding across east central New York State. There was severe major level flooding on portions of the Mohawk River and some of its tributaries, and moderate to near major flooding on some of the Catskill Mountain drainages. Record flooding occurred on the Mohawk River at Little Falls and on the Canajoharie Creek. A record flood may have occurred on the East Canada Creek between Dolgeville and the Mohawk River. Also, moderate to near major flooding occurred at Kast Bridge, Hinckley, and Schenectady. Flooding, mainly minor, occurred along the Hudson River and its tributaries, including Hope (here moderate to near major flooding was observed), Troy, Riverbank, and Ft. Edward. In the Catskills, flooding approached major levels near Kingston on the Esopus. Elsewhere in the Catskills, mainly minor flooding was noted.Readers are referred to the E-5 report from the National Weather Service's Albany office for details on the flooding that occurred on the main stem (gaged) rivers.There was a considerable amount of flood damage. However as of mid summer 2006, when this report was filed, the damage figure was very preliminary. Damage was estimated to be around 50 million dollars. About 8,000 customers of National Grid were without power. In some cases, power was intentionally cut to homes and businesses to reduce the fire threat. A 117-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway was closed between Interchange 25A and Interchange 34A beginning at 11:45 am June 28, 2006 and lasting until 10:15 am June 29, 2006. Flooding from the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie led to portions of the Thruway being under five feet of water. This was the worst flooding on the Barge Canal during the navigation season since its reconstruction in 1905. Forty-five locks were closed. In some locations, the flood waters deposited 100-foot deep debris piles. Thirty-five vessels were stranded in the canal system. Freight and passenger rail services were interrupted between Albany and Buffalo.

Scattered nocturnal thunderstorms developed along a warm front during the late evening of June 25 across eastern New York. One cell became briefly severe as it moved into Greene County. Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and powerlines in the towns of Durham and Coxsackie. Lightning from the same storm also caused an electrical fire in the town of Hudson. The fire produced minimal property damage.