548
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
16
Direct injuries
$2.4M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Rensselaer County, New York: 548 recorded events between 1962 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 100. That places the county #88 nationally and #9 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Rensselaer County, New York: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Rensselaer County is the 2010s, when 196 of the county's 548 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Rensselaer County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 68.2% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #88 for this hazard and #9 within New York, putting it in the 97.3 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Rensselaer County with 171 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 1989 | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 | |
| Jun 30, 2017 | SOUTH SCHODACK | 50 | 0 | 4 | $0 |
| Apr 23, 1996 | WYNANTSKILL | 0 | 0 | 3 | $20K |
| Jun 22, 1988 | 0 | 0 | 3 | $0 | |
| May 31, 2007 | WEST SAND LAKE | 50 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Apr 14, 2026 | ALBIA | 50 | 0 | 1 | $15K |
| Jul 19, 2015 | HOOSICK FALLS | 50 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 24, 2013 | RENSSELAER | 87 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 2026 | ALBIA | 50 | $15K |
| Jul 20, 2025 | STEPHENTOWN | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 20, 2025 | NASSAU | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 11, 2025 | HOOSICK FALLS | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 19, 2025 | BABCOCK LAKE | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 19, 2025 | EAST PITTSTOWN | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2024 | MUITZES KILL | 55 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2024 | HOAG CORNERS | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2024 | MILLERS CORNER | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2024 | SLITERS | 55 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Rensselaer County
- Hail 133
- Flash Flood 60
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A cold front produced scattered thunderstorms on the afternoon of May 12. One of the storms became briefly severe as it moved across Stephentown in Rensselaer County. Winds from the storm brought wires down and blew a chimney off a house.
A local news outlet reported a downed tree near the intersection of Spring Avenue and Kinloch Avenue. The tree unfortunately fell on a 60 year old man who was later taken to Albany Medical Center and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The remnants of a tropical depression moved across southeast New York on July 22nd resulting in severe thunderstorms across parts of the Hudson Valley. Thunderstorm winds downed trees and powerlines with one tree falling on a vehicle in Queensbury. In Lake Luzerne lightning blew apart a church steeple without starting a fire.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Rensselaer County, New York?
548 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Rensselaer County between 1962 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Rensselaer County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Rensselaer County measured 100.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Rensselaer County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Rensselaer County, New York.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-york/rensselaer-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.