BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sunday's wind storm packed quite the punch. Very strong winds caused numerous downed trees, power outages, significant lakeshore flooding and even a water spout.
Winds of 74 mph are classified as hurricane force so some of the wind gusts reported Sunday were close to that strength. Peak gusts reach 69 mph in Buffalo and Fredonia and 68 mph in Dunkirk and Blasdell. Wind gusts were a little more subdued farther inland but still reached speeds of 50 to 60 mph throughout the Southern Tier.
Thousands of residents across Western New York lost power due to the high winds.
The City of Buffalo says they have so far responded to 56 calls for trees down. They currently have four crews working across the city to remove them.
A seiche was also reported Sunday along the Lake Erie shore. A seiche is a rapid water level rise at one end of a large water basin and a rapid drop at the other end due to persistently strong, long duration winds.
Sunday's seiche caused the lake level to rise 7 feet above the normal water level as shown in the graph of lake Erie's water level from the National Weather Service. This water rise caused flooding in the Hoover Beach area of Hamburg, The First Ward of South Buffalo, Canalside and along the upper Niagara River.
Also a water spout was captured over Lake Erie near Hamburg Beach. The video courtesy of Lehmann.
