Syracuse, NY – Sunday’s deluge produced the most rain ever for an Aug. 22 in Syracuse and either the second- or fourth-highest total for one day in the city’s history, depending on how you look at the records. The National Weather Service in Binghamton reported this morning that 4.21 inches of rain fell Sunday at Syracuse Hancock Airport. That...
Syracuse, NY – Sunday’s deluge produced the most rain ever for an Aug. 22 in Syracuse and either the second- or fourth-highest total for one day in the city’s history, depending on how you look at the records.
The National Weather Service in Binghamton reported this morning that 4.21 inches of rain fell Sunday at Syracuse Hancock Airport. That easily eclipsed the old record for the date, 1.5 inches set in 1968. It also was the second highest total ever recorded for Syracuse, behind the 4.29 inches that fell on July 12, 2006, a weather service meteorologist said.
That statistic, it turns out, was true to a point.
A point in July 1950, to be precise, when weather records started being kept at the airport, rather than downtown Syracuse, said Jessica Rennells, a climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center in Ithaca.
The pre-1950 archives show two days where Syracuse received more rain than the 2006 date. The record holder is the 4.79 inches that fell on June 11, 1922. Six days later, 4.75 inches fell on that downtown spot. Both were caused by intense low-pressure systems, Rennells said.
Wherever Sunday’s rainfall stands, it was enough to cause minor flooding in a number of locations and power outages scattered across the area. National Grid still was reporting spotty outages on its Web site at late morning; most were expected to be fixed by 1:30 p.m.
The intersection of Hiawatha and State Fair boulevards was a problem flood spot in the city. At midmorning cars and trucks waded carefully in the two center lanes, avoiding ankle-deep water that flooded the outer lanes, spilled over the curbs and intruded on neighboring properties.
“I was told it was a (water main) break. I just know it really sucks,” said Guy Otis, a salesman at Floyd Creaser Quality Used Cars, the dealership at the intersection.
As he spoke, passing vehicles raised wakes that broke over the curb and rippled under the dealership’s cars. The water almost touched the cars’ undercarriages.
The overflow was problematic in two ways, Otis said – it could cause rust on his vehicles and could keep customers away. Anyone who wanted to browse this morning would have been best advised to take off their shoes.
Whatever its impact, the flooding was caused by the heavy rain, said Tim Carroll, director of mayoral initiatives at City Hall. The storm drains in that area empty into Harbor Brook and, thanks to the storm, are dumping more water than the rain-swollen brook can handle, Carroll said.
“There’s nowhere for this water to go,” Carroll said.
While some property owners cursed the storm, Leonard Smith hoped to reap a blessing. The Syracuse resident stood on deck at the Inner Harbor, fishing rod in hand. Nearby, a turbulent Onondaga Creek tumbled its waters into the harbor.
Smith said he’s noticed in the past that high water brings muskies, catfish and walleyes into the harbor. His prey this morning was catfish, he said as he carved a ball of bait into sections and speared a piece onto his hook.
What kind of bait?
“Meatballs!” Smith said.