Dry spell ends with a big splash

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bethany Bump

The Albany International Airport on Tuesday recorded the most rainfall in one day since Tropical Storm Irene barreled through the region just more than one year ago.

The Capital Region was hit with downpours, high wind and resulting flood advisories, a thunderstorm warning and tornado watch on Tuesday evening, which for the most part petered out by 10 p.m. But the onslaught had the region on high alert and in some areas traffic slowed to a crawl, trees fell in roadways or on power lines, basements flooded and streets were submerged.

With the torrential downpour still not over, the National Weather Service recorded 3.19 inches of rainfall at the airport as of 9:08 p.m. Tuesday, said meteorologist Hugh Johnson.

The last time the site experienced that much rainfall in one day was on Aug. 28, 2011 — when Irene dropped a measly 4.69 inches of rain there, which still was below what hit Schoharie and Montgomery counties.

The Tuesday rainfall also surpassed the 1.27-inch record rainfall for that day from 1987, said Johnson.

“There might be a few lake effect sprinkles Wednesday,” he said. “But the vast majority of the area will dry up today.”

The record-breaking weather was part of a larger storm along the East Coast. Most advisories issued by the National Weather Service were expected to be over well before dawn today.

The combination of wind and rain caused a smattering of trees with heavy, wet leaves to fall down Tuesday evening. A large tree fell and blocked Pashley Road near Hetcheltown Road in East Glenville, but dispatchers said it was removed along with one or two other downed trees in town Tuesday night.

“We had multiple areas of standing water, but it was just a matter of waiting for waters to recede,” said Glenville police dispatcher Don Gerding.

A vehicle was submerged in Schenectady, though no one injured, when a person attempted to drive through a flooded Weaver Street, according to radio transmissions. Dispatchers said that Weaver Street and Edison Avenue, which are both off Broadway near I-890, are almost always flooded when heavy rainfall hits.

There were also several reports of flooded basements and leaking ceilings Tuesday evening.

Despite a flood warning issued for the Schoharie Creek in Delaware and Schoharie counties, dispatchers said that for the most part they felt they had missed the storm — a sure relief after the devastation Mother Nature dealt the Schoharie Valley in 2011.

Forecasts call for minor flooding of the creek, and the warning remains in effect through 2 p.m. today.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, creek waters at Prattsville exceeded the 12-foot flood stage and were expected to keep rising to more than 13 feet. By about 8 a.m., the waters should recede below that stage.