ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – New York State’s Mesonet, the nation’s most advanced statewide weather monitoring system, was put to the test by Tuesday’s severe storms. NEWS10 took a closer look at the network's high-tech equipment and the Capital Region numbers that experts say stand out the most.
The first Mesonet station was installed in 2015. Nick Bassill, director of the New York State Weather Risk Communication Center, said he was in disbelief what he saw recorded online for the first time in history on Tuesday.
“Yesterday, Glens Falls was hit by a storm with wind gusts of 87 mph, which is the highest wind speed ever observed by any weather station in Mesonet, New York State. The previous high was around 80 mph,” Bashi said. I said.
The ultrasonic wind sensors they use are very accurate because they don't rely on long periods of strong winds. He said one of the ongoing challenges they face is obtaining accurate and timely information.
“Because when you have a very complex weather event, you want to talk about the heat, you want to talk about the wind, you want to talk about possible tornadoes, you want to talk about what happened yesterday, you want to talk about everything. It's hard to do it all at the same time. To be very detailed and concise,” Bashir said.
Time-lapse video shows the damage caused by the wind. Winds in Edinburg, Saratoga County, were 73 mph.
“When we see a report of a big thunderstorm and high winds, we often step in front of the camera because we want to see if there's anything to corroborate that? We see something like a shed blown over, or a Trees were blown down. That definitely gives you confidence in the really strong gusts that are going on out there,” Bashir said.
Across the county, Schuylerville, where 1.11 inches of rain fell in 15 minutes, was also brought to their attention, he said.
Bashir said last week's rains had saturated the ground and conditions were now suitable to cause massive storm damage. He said when they see extreme weather in one category, it often correlates with extreme weather in another category.
“If it’s really hot and humid — like it’s been in the Albany area over the past few days, where the heat index has been over 100 degrees for several days — those conditions are also perfect for spawning. Thunderstorms happen because it’s really hot, Very humid. Thunderstorms like that,” Bashir said.
On Thursday, Bashir will travel to the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss how they organize and share materials among multiple agencies.
