Moderate Storm Jul 23, 2026 - Jul 24, 2026

Thu July 23-24 New York (Lake Ontario) & Ohio Storm

Jul 23-24 Alley front -- 0.0" delivered, Genesee River peaked +14hrs as expected.

July 23-24 New York (Lake Ontario) & Ohio Storm Card

Meteorological Analysis

A moderate storm system rolled through the Steelhead Alley region starting on Thursday, July 23, 2026 and lasting until Friday, July 24, 2026. The storm was active for approximately 18 hours, dumping a maximum of 0.00" of rain across affected zones. Geographically, the weather system impacted the New York (Lake Ontario), Ohio regions, causing rapid water-level rises on multiple tributaries.

Gauges recorded significant river responses, particularly along Grand River near Painesville (peaking at 44 CFS), Eighteenmile Creek (Niagara) (peaking at 317 CFS), Chagrin River @ Willoughby (peaking at 76 CFS), Vermilion River @ Vermilion (peaking at 28 CFS), Cuyahoga River @ Independence (peaking at 549 CFS), Brandy Run near Girard (peaking at 2 CFS), Huron River (peaking at 46 CFS), Black River (peaking at 27 CFS), Salmon River (peaking at 256 CFS), Sandy Creek (Hamlin) (peaking at 124 CFS), Irondequoit Creek (peaking at 101 CFS), Black River (Watertown) (peaking at 1,280 CFS), Euclid Creek (peaking at 17 CFS), Sandy Creek (Adams) (peaking at 75 CFS), Rocky River near Berea (peaking at 154 CFS), Oak Orchard Creek (peaking at 1,140 CFS), Johnson Creek (peaking at 312 CFS), Ashtabula River (peaking at 117 CFS), Conneaut Creek (peaking at 150 CFS), Genesee River (peaking at 1,530 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.