MAYVILLE, N.Y. — A Flash Flood Warning issued for southern Chautauqua County expired at 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Areas in this region have been hit by thunderstorms dropping significant amounts of rain. Roads are beginning to flood and this area is prone to flooding when significant rain does fall. The best advice is to stay off the roads during the evening, if possible since it is difficult to navigate.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was in place for Erie, Wyoming, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties and expired 1 a.m. Sunday for those areas, with the potential for the thunderstorms to develop and become strong to severe.
Finally, an Areal Flood Warning was issued for southern Chautauqua and southwestern Cattaraugus Counties but expired at 2 a.m. Sunday. This was because the rain had been hitting the same areas over and over again, which led to the ponding on the roads. If you see a flooded road, turn around and don't drown.
Storms had the potential to bring steady downpours, dozens of lightning strikes, gusty winds up to 60 mph, and potentially nickel-sized hail.
As we head through Saturday night, the atmosphere is primed for some active weather with plenty of instability in the atmosphere for these thunderstorms to get going. The active weather is not expected to be confined to one region and as this large system moves through, almost all of Western New York will be dealing with some wet weather.
It is recommended that you keep your eye on the sky tonight and watch for ominous clouds to roll in, and when they do, make sure you head indoors.
We will continue to keep you updated with the changing weather conditions online as these thunderstorms roll through.
