Event Summary

On Monday, August 13th, a weak cold front approached southeast New York from the west. In advance of the front, a warm, moist, and very unstable air mass was in place. As a weak sea breeze developed within this air mass, showers and thunderstorms developed. With abundant moisture in place, very heavy rainfall accompanied these thunderstorms, with rainfall rates in excess of 2 inches per hour occurring across portions of northern Queens County and northern Nassau County. In addition, with weak steering winds in place, these showers and thunderstorms moved very slowly, producing highly localized rainfall amounts of 5 inches or more. Consequently, flooding of roadways and highways occurred in highly localized portions of northern Queens and northern Nassau Counties. In northern Queens County, isolated severe flooding occurred along the Cross Island Parkway and Whitestone Expressway, leading to eventual shutdown of these major arterial highways. Victims were stranded in vehicles on these highways and on other local roads in northern Queens. In addition, several health care facilities were flooded, including one area hospital and seven area nursing homes.