Major Storm Jun 30, 2026 - Jul 1, 2026

Tue June 30 - July 1 New York (Lake Erie) & New York (Lake Ontario) & Ohio Storm

Jun 30-Jul 1 alley-wide storm -- 0.8" in 13hrs, Oak Orchard Creek blew out, Salmon River fishable Wednesday.

June 30 - July 1 New York (Lake Erie) & New York (Lake Ontario) & Ohio Storm Card

Meteorological Analysis

A major storm system rolled through the Steelhead Alley region starting on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 and lasting until Wednesday, July 1, 2026. The storm was active for approximately 13 hours, dumping a maximum of 0.83" of rain across affected zones. Geographically, the weather system impacted the New York (Lake Erie), New York (Lake Ontario), Ohio regions, causing rapid water-level rises on multiple tributaries.

Gauges recorded significant river responses, particularly along Conneaut Creek (peaking at 27 CFS), Grand River near Painesville (peaking at 68 CFS), Euclid Creek (peaking at 11 CFS), Ashtabula River (peaking at 21 CFS), Rocky River near Berea (peaking at 99 CFS), Vermilion River @ Vermilion (peaking at 51 CFS), Cuyahoga River @ Independence (peaking at 387 CFS), Huron River (peaking at 66 CFS), Black River (peaking at 40 CFS), Salmon River (peaking at 260 CFS), Sandy Creek (Adams) (peaking at 1,590 CFS), Brandy Run near Girard (peaking at 1 CFS), Chautauqua Creek (peaking at 15 CFS), Canadaway Creek (peaking at 10 CFS), Silver Creek (peaking at 5 CFS), Chagrin River @ Willoughby (peaking at 56 CFS), Cattaraugus Creek (peaking at 240 CFS), Sandy Creek (Hamlin) (peaking at 55 CFS), Genesee River (peaking at 1,310 CFS), Irondequoit Creek (peaking at 81 CFS), Black River (Watertown) (peaking at 2,730 CFS), Eighteen Mile Creek (peaking at 15 CFS), Buffalo Creek (peaking at 48 CFS), Cazenovia Creek (peaking at 60 CFS), Eighteenmile Creek (Niagara) (peaking at 106 CFS), Johnson Creek (peaking at 74 CFS), Oak Orchard Creek (peaking at 880 CFS). Angling conditions deteriorated quickly during the peak flow periods, leading to temporary washouts. Gaging stations monitored the recovery times as flows began returning to their baselines, mapping out the best windows for fishermen to get back on the water.

From a weather prediction standpoint, the NWS forecasts for this event received an aggregate score card grade of 'A'. Gaging observations were matched against NWS precipitation models to assess the forecasting margins, highlighting the variance in local rainfall amounts across the lake shores.