Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Severe Thunderstorms with Hail, Spells Disaster for Upstate NY



HAIL NO! On June 16th the Upstate New York, (NY), area got pounded by rain, and hail during a severe thunderstorms with winds sometimes exceeding 60 mph. The hail ranged in size from pennies to golf balls. It looked like it had snowed in some areas. It was the worst hail storm in years. The state agriculture commissioner will survey hail damage suffered by upstate orchards.

Agriculture officials say apple, peach, strawberry and cherry crops from the Niagara Frontier east to the Hudson Valley suffered extensive damage. Some growers reported losing as much as 75 percent of their crops in the storm, which also damaged corn and other vegetable crops.

Officials in Wayne County, on Lake Ontario just east of Rochester, have called on Gov. David Paterson to declare the county a disaster area.

The storms knocked out power to nearly 10,000 RG&E customers in Gates and Rochester.

It was a strange start to Wegmans LPGA week as hail fell during a weather delay at Locust Hill Country Club.

As for my area, we had a thunderstorms on and off all day, but no hail. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed.


This post was based on readings from...


Newsday.com

Buffalo News

WHEC-TV 10

And another WHEC-TV 10 article

View slide show here

7 comments:

Sonnie-Dee said...

That's not such a great start to summer for you. We have had thunder and lightening storms here too...lightening hit the local church (about 5 minutes walk from my house) and blew a huge hole in the roof and messed up all the electrics. Apparently the quotes to fix it are all around $200k.

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi S'onnie,

Sorry to hear about the church. I hope that they can raise the money.

I would have loved to see the hail. To bad it wasn't centered in the city instead of the farm area.

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi LadyBanana,

Yes, the weather world wide is in an upheaval. Actually Rochester is one of the safer places.

Tracy said...

Wow I have family in that general area. Weather this year has been strange all over the place! It has been thundering, and lightening here really bad lately.

very strange.

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi Tracy,

I was surprised to here that Wayne County wants to be categorized as a disaster area. They must have gotten the brunt of it. It's to bad that the hail didn't hit more in the city.

I didn't realize that you had family in this area. I might be doing a news update soon. We have had a series of strange happenings here.

Anonymous said...

Only In New York!!!

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi meleah rebeccah,

Upstate N.Y. weather keeps life interesting. Singing ~I LOVE NEW YORK!~

Things could be a lot worse. No floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes. If we get them they are rare, and mild. Usually the worst we get is bad snow storms, and blizzards. Not so bad when you think about it.