REGION 1 - NIAGARA FRONTIER 
DickMiga 
38 Elm Street 
Fredonia, NY 14063-1937 
September began with a stretch of six days of midsummer heat and 
humidity. This was finally broken by the edge of dying tropical storm 
Dennis, which brought the month's heaviest rains on the 7th, with over 
one-third of the monthly total recorded on that date. Fortunately, Region 
1 was too far west to be affected by Hurricane Floyd, with just some 
clouds here on the 16th. However, strong winds did cause some limited 
tree damage on the 23rd, and the Region did get a scare late on the 29th 
when a tornado watch was placed in effect. Statistically, the average tem¬ 
perature for the month was 64.3°F, 2.4° above normal, making this the 
warmest September in 28 years. The rainfall total of 3.95" was just over 
the norm and varied in amounts over the Region. 
October continued as a typical autumn month, with the main weath¬ 
er event strong to severe thunderstorms that swept across the area on the 
13th. This event followed a sharp cold front that crossed the Region, 
dropping temperatures over 30° in six hours. Many reports of hail and 
damaging wind gusts came from Niagara County and the southern 
region of Erie County. Statistics for the month included an average tem¬ 
perature at the Buffalo Airport of 50.1°. Rainfall total was just less than 
3", contributing to continued low subsurface soil moisture and water 
table levels. 
November's main weather event was an intense storm that moved 
from the Gulf Coast straight north across western New York during the 
evening of the 2nd. The barometric pressure fell to 29.01" at Buffalo, the 
lowest at any time since 1992, and the lowest November reading since 
1913. Over 3" of rain fell on the suburbs of Buffalo, creating widespread 
flooding and road closures. The average temperature of 43.9° was 3° 
above normal. It was the eighth warmest November of the century. 
Precipitation for the month totaled just over 3" at the airport, just below 
normal. Over half (1.65") of this rain fell during the storm of the 2nd, 
establishing a new daily record for the date. (Note that this was only half 
of some of the reports from the suburbs.) The only snowfall recorded for 
the month occurred on the 30th, with varying amounts recorded through¬ 
out the Region. Meteorological data were obtained from the website of 
the National Weather Service Monthly Weather Data and Summary for 
Buffalo, NY. 
The Kingbird 2000 March; 50(1) 
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