Photograph contributed via Facebook by Rich Reynolds - 70 foot Silver Maple uprooted by strong wind gusts during the afternoon, Thursday March 2, 2017 - This was a common scene throughout the Mohawk valley, Capital Region and Berkshires responsible for thousands without power at times through the day.
The Event
The combination of a very tight surface pressure gradient, created by a strong departing storm tracking up into New Foundland and high pressure across the upper Mississippi valley, coupled with a well turned over lower to mid atmosphere in a strong cold advection scenario allowing for deep mixing, and a passing low level jet core, produced a long duration strong to damaging wind gust event which was maximized between 6am and 5pm on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Some localized strong wind gusts, however, also occurred between midnight and 6am with a narrow line of convective showers along and ahead of a strong cold front as well as with scattered showers that followed the line, showers, which ultimately switched to gusty snow showers after 3am as colder air flowed into the region. A peak westerly wind gust of 54 mph was measured at the Albany airport at 11:23am, which established a wind gust record for the day, breaking the previous gust record for the date of 51 mph from the west in 2015. The peak sustained wind speed at Albany was 37 mph out of the west as well. National Grid reported a total of approximately 35,000 customers without power during the height of the outages in the Mohawk valley and Capital Region with some power outages lingering into Friday morning, March 3. Largely unfrozen ground conditions at a time of the year when ground conditions are typically frozen, likely contributed to enhanced tree damage with more uproots than would ordinarily have occurred leading to elevated power outage numbers in some area.
Mechanics
Widespread high wind was particularly favored in this event due in large part to a passing jet core through the morning which was riding only a few thousand feet off the ground. Because the air was cooling aloft more quickly than it was cooling at the surface, the surface air was readily able to mix with the air above it and through an overturning process some of the high momentum air associated with the passing jet core was able to mix down to the ground in damaging gusts. The axis of strongest winds encompassed the Mohawk valley, Capital Region, into the Berkshires, as the east-west oriented valley effectively channeled the cold west to northwesterly flow which accelerated it allowing for wind gust enhancement. On average, sustained winds of 25-30 mph occurred between 6am and 5pm with frequent gusts from 35-45 mph and occasional gusts from 50-55 mph into the early to mid afternoon. Isolated gusts across elevated regions peaked at 60 mph. Winds outside of the channeled Mohawk valley flow were somewhat lighter with gusts ranging from the 40-45 mph range on average.
Peak Gust Wind Measurements
| Town | County | Peak Gust | Time of Gust |
| Pittsfield, MA (Downtown | Berkshire | 51 mph | 11:00am (est.) |
| East Windsor, MA | Berkshire | 50 mph | 10:35am |
| Pittsfield, MA (Airport | Berkshire | 49 mph | 12:44pm |
| Adams, MA | Berkshire | 46 mph | 3:08pm |
| Albany (Airport) | Albany | 54 mph | 11:23am |
| Delmar | Albany | 41 mph | 1:24pm |
| Voorheesville | Albany | 40 mph | 12:22pm |
| Knox | Albany | 37 mph | 8:02am |
| Chatham | Columbia | 36 mph | 7:54am |
| Pleasant Valley | Dutchess | 47 mph | 2:22am |
| Johnstown (NY Mesonet) | Fulton | 57 mph | 8:30am |
| 2 Miles ESE Johnstown | Fulton | 53 mph | 8:38am |
| Broadalbin | Fulton | 42 mph | 6:54am |
| Fairfield | Herkimer | 43 mph | 6:05am |
| Hoosick Falls | Rensselaer | 51 mph | 9:16am |
| 5 Miles ESE Waterford | Rensselaer | 49 mph | 7:24am |
| Troy | Rensselaer | 44 mph | 8:00am |
| Edinburg | Saratoga | 53 mph | 12:35am |
| Schenectady (MVP Building) | Schenectady | 60 mph | 7:30am (est.) |
| East Glenville | Schenectady | 51 mph | 7:00am |
| 4 Miles E. of Phoenicia | Ulster | 39 mph | 4:14pm |
| Lake George | Warren | 39 mph | 7:00am (est.) |
| Granville | Washington | 42 mph | 8:03am |
| 3 WSW Woodford, VT | Bennington | 49 mph | 9:31am |
| 4 ESE Woodford, VT | Bennington | 48 mph | 9:37am |
| Old Bennington, VT | Bennington | 46 mph | 9:30am |
| 3 WSW Peru, VT | Bennington | 44 mph | 9:45am |
| 5 NNW Wilmington, VT | Windham | 54 mph | 7:50am |
Temperature, Dewpoint, Wind (mph) Plot For Albany, Thursday, March 2, 2017
TIME |
TEMPERATURE |
DEWPOINT |
WIND DIR/SPEED- Weather |
12am |
55 |
44 |
West 18 G 36 - Light Rain |
1am |
55 |
43 |
West 10 G 23 |
2am |
49 |
37 |
NW 20 G 35 |
3am |
43 |
37 |
W 17 G 26 mph |
4am |
43 |
35 |
W 17 G 28 mph |
5am |
41 |
33 |
W 9 |
6am |
40 |
33 |
SW 12 |
7am |
34 |
28 |
NW 28 G 37 - Light Rain |
8am |
29 |
20 |
W 18 G 40 - Light Snow |
9am |
29 |
14 |
W 28 G 38 |
10am |
27 |
16 |
W 24 G 33 - Light Snow |
11am |
29 |
14 |
W 24 G 38 - Light Snow |
12pm |
29 |
15 |
W 25 G 40 |
1pm |
29 |
14 |
W 20 G 36 - Light Snow |
2pm |
32 |
15 |
NW 29 G 39 |
3pm |
32 |
12 |
NW 26 G 47 |
4pm |
33 |
11 |
NW 21 G 36 |
5pm |
32 |
11 |
W 20 G 32 |
6pm |
30 |
11 |
W 16 |
7pm |
29 |
11 |
W 16 |
8pm |
28 |
11 |
NW 17 G 22 |
9pm |
28 |
10 |
NW 16 G 26 |
10pm |
27 |
11 |
NW 13 |
11pm |
27 |
12 |
NW 13 |
Wind Damage Reports
Note: These reports are used by the National Weather to verify the High Wind Warning that was in effect and are therefore only a sampling of the wind damage that occurred, not a complete list
Town |
County | Wind Damage Report | Time of Damage |
| 1 Mile W of Hawthorne Hill - Schenectady | Schenectady | Large pine tree uprooted | 11:30pm/1st |
| Coeymans | Albany | Tree blown down | 12:28am |
| Guilderland | Albany | Tree down on wires | 12:28am |
| Guilderland | Albany | Additional trees blown down | 1:30am |
| New Paltz | Ulster | Tree blown down on wires with a transformer fire i the village | 2:18am |
| Cohoes | Albany | Tree blown down on wires | 3:41am |
| New Scotland | Albany | Wires blown down | 3:51am |
| Shedd Corners | Herkimer | Trees and wires down with a transformer fire on State Route 29 | 5:52am |
| Burrell Corners | Herkimer | Trees and wires down on State Route 170A and Route 29 intersection | 5:52am |
| Clifton Park (Oaks) | Saratoga | 13" diameter maple tree snapped, additional limbs down off of other trees | 6:49am |
| Sycaway | Rensselaer | 2 trees down on wires on Liberty Road | 7:00am |
| 1 Mile NE Flagler Corners | Saratoga | Sylvan Learning Center closed due to power outage | 7:00am |
| 2 Miles SE Poland | Herkimer | Trees and wires blown down | 7:00am |
| 1 Mild N. Cold Brook | Herkimer | Trees and wires down across the road | 7:06am |
| Colonie | Albany | Tree down on wires | 7:11am |
| Gansevoort | Saratoga | Tree down blocking all lanes of a road | 7:25am |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | 60 mph gust on the roof of the MVP building | 7:30am (est.) |
| Saratoga Springs | Saratoga | Part of a White Pine down on the maintenance building at the Saratoga Spa State Park | 7:30am (est.) |
| Hickeys Corners | Saratoga | Tree down across Route 29 near Brookview Terrace | 7:45am |
| 2 Miles NE Manchester, VT | Bennington | Pine trees snapped and smaller ones uprooted | 7:45am |
| Rensselaerville | Albany | Wires down | 7:51am |
| High Mills | Schenectady | Route 50 closed between Hetcheltown Road and Kile Drive due to downed trees and power lines | 8:16am |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Trees snapped/uprooted, large trees down blocking a road, cars damaged | 8:30am |
| Martindale | Columbia | Tree down blocking Prach Road | 8:39am |
| Guilderland | Albany | Tree blocking a road | 8:49am |
| Summit | Schoharie | Trees down on Charlotte Valley Road | 9:00am |
| Amsterdam | Montgomery | Downed tree | 9:15am |
| Albany | Albany | Tree down on road at Academy Road and New Scotland Avenue | 9:15am |
| Flatbrook | Columbia | Tree, wires and pole down on Dean Hill Road | 9:40am |
| Westerlo | Albany | Tree down on wires | 9:46am |
| Canaan | Columbia | Tree on wires on Route 295 | 9:48am |
| South Westerlo | Albany | Tree on wires at Creamery Road and Route 32 | 10:00am |
| Little Falls | Herkimer | Power pole down | 10:30am |
| West Winfield | Herkimer | Trees on wires | 10:37am |
| Cohoes | Albany | Tree down on Central Avenue | 10:40am |
| Karner | Albany | Tree down on wires on Kings Road | 10:55am |
| Johnstown | Fulton | Some secondary roads shut down, roof damage, street sign damage, traffic light damage and power outages, trees down on cars, approximately 6000 out of power | 11:17am |
| Schenectady | Schenectady | Tree down across road on a car on Glenwood Blvd. | 11:30am |
| Stanford Heights | Albany | Tree down on wires on Kings Road | 11:40am |
| Karner | Albany | Trees down blocking Kings Road | 11:45am |
| Albany | Albany | Wires down at New Scotland Ave. and Oakwood St. | 12:05pm |
| Normansville | Albany | Tree down on Norfolk Street | 12:20pm |
| Rayville | Columbia | Tree and wires down on Blueberry Hill Road and Ford Road | 12:59pm |
| Old Chatham | Columbia | Tree down on wires at Albany Turnpike and Haddock Hill Road | 1:04pm |
| Cohoes | Albany | Tree on house on Arlington Road | 1:10pm |
| Colonie | Albany | Tree down at Central Avenue and Parkwood Drive | 1:40pm |
| Albany | Albany | Trees blown down | 2:30pm |
| Rosendale | Ulster | Tree down blocking the northbound lane of Route 32 between James St. and Main St. | 2:30pm |
| Greenport Center | Columbia | Tree down blocking road at the intersection of Hiscox Road and Fingar Road | 3:02pm |
| Lenox, MA | Berkshire | Tree down on wires on Undermountain Road | 3:14pm |
| Lessville | Schoharie | Wires blown down on Leesville Cross Road | 3:45pm |
| Washington, MA | Berkshire | Tree down on Summit Hill Road | 4:02pm |