It Was a Microburst!

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -  The National Weather Service is reporting that yesterday's severe weather that left massive damage in its wake in Croton and Ossining was a microburst.

Meterologists from the NWS examined some badly damaged sections of Croton Saturday, including portions of route 9 where a nearly 4-foot tree fell across the road near Eagle Bay Drive.

They also examined significant tree damage that occurred on Cedar Lane Terrace and Meadowbrook Drive and concluded a microburst was the likely cause.

 Authorities say the microburst was centered in Ossining when it struck around 6:05 p.m. Friday night, packing 80 mile-per-hour winds with a path of 1.4 miles roughly one half mile wide. A microburst, unlike a tornado which typically causes straight-line or linear damage, is a convective, powerful downdraft that packs strong winds and can cause severe damage. Typically microbursts last five minutes or less.

The massive storm tore through Croton Friday night, leaving thousands of dollars in property damage and thousands of residents without power in its wake.

The storm only lasted a short period of time, but left 2,900 residents in Croton and Cortlandt without electricity Friday night and many trees were down on roadways, houses and cars. Ossining was also hard it during the downpour that was accomplanied by high winds that were strong enough to shear trees.

Miraculously, according to reports from the Croton Police Department and the New York State Police, no injuries were reported. Despite have a car smashed by a falling tree, Peter Oroszlany, a 10-year Harrison Street resident, was in remarkably good spirits, saying, “Nobody got hurt. Some things you can change, some things you can’t.”

“It was coming down in sheets,” said Cathy Davidson, a 26-year Harrison Street resident. “It was over in a couple minutes," she added.

East Croton and Montrose appeared hardest hit by the storm, with half a dozen trees down on houses on Harrison Street, Mouth Airy Road South, and Cleveland Drive. Furnace Dock Road had been reported essentially impassable by the Montrose Fire Department as of 8 p.m.

Most traffic signals in town were without power and Croton Police could be seen driving to each intersection to quickly place emergency stop signs there immediately after the storm. Residents treated normally signaled intersections as four-way stops.

Two cars were smashed by a massive tree on Harrison Street, Route 129 was effectively shut down from Batten Road to Quaker Bridge Road, according to Croton fire and police officials, and Furnace Dock Road was “absolutely a mess,” according to Brian Barry, first assistant chief with the Montrose Fire Department.

The Daily Croton’s Facebook community reported that Maple Street, East Mount Airy Road and South Mount Airy Road were without power, though there were many other streets without power based on the sheer number of trees down in the area. Croton Fire Department and Police Department responded to many calls that night. Barry said Montrose firefighters would likely be at the station until "early in the morning, because we're supposed to get another storm."

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