Event Summary

A squall line developed during the afternoon hours. Thunderstorms produced damaging winds, torrential rains, and dangerous cloud-to-ground lighting. Winds overturned some boats just south of the beaches of Nassau County injuring 12 people. Elsewhere three people were injured by lighting strikes in Gravesend Bay. A very moist and unstable tropical air mass gave rise to numerous damaging thunderstorms. The squall line formed well ahead of a cold front during the evening hours over central Pennsylvania and upstate New York, moving through coastal sections of southeastern New York around midnight. These thunderstorms downed many trees and power lines as they swept through the area.