September Storms Test Your Gutters Before a Single Leaf Falls
Ask most homeowners in Rockland, Bergen or Westchester when gutter season starts and they’ll say October, when the maples let go. Fair enough. But your gutters don’t get their hardest test in October. They get it right now, in September, and most of them aren’t ready for it.
Why September Is Different
The Atlantic hurricane season peaks around the second week of September. We don’t get landfalling hurricanes here, but we get what’s left of them: tropical remnants that push north and wring themselves out over the Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey.
That’s not ordinary rain. A summer thunderstorm drops water for twenty minutes and moves on. A tropical remnant can park over Nanuet or Paramus and dump an inch or two an hour for most of a night. Anyone who was in Rockland or Bergen County when the remnants of Ida came through in September 2021 remembers what that looks like on a residential street.
A gutter system is designed to handle heavy rain. It’s not designed to handle heavy rain while it’s already half full of something else.
What’s Already in Your Gutters Right Now
Here’s the part people miss. The leaves haven’t fallen yet, so the gutters must be clean, right? Walk a roof in mid-September and here’s what we actually find in the trough:
- Maple seeds and oak tassels from the spring drop, now matted into a felt layer along the bottom.
- Twigs, bark and small branches knocked loose by summer thunderstorms.
- Shingle granules shed all summer under UV and heat, settling into a gritty sludge at the low end of every run.
- Pine needles, which fall year-round and slip past guards and screens.
- Pollen and dust that arrived dry in May and turned to mud with the first rain.
- Nests. Birds, wasps, occasionally a squirrel, tucked into the corner where the gutter meets the downspout.
None of that looks dramatic from the driveway. Together it can cut a gutter’s capacity in half and plug the downspout outlet completely. On a normal day, water still finds its way through. On the night a tropical remnant comes through, it doesn’t.
What a September Failure Looks Like
When a loaded gutter meets tropical rain, water goes over the front edge in a sheet and over the back edge behind the fascia. On a two-story colonial in New City or Ridgewood, that’s a waterfall landing about eighteen inches from the foundation, all night. By morning you’re looking at a wet basement, washed-out mulch beds, and streaks down the siding.
The damage most people don’t see is behind the gutter: soaked fascia boards, water wicking into the soffit, and the first course of shingles sitting in a backed-up puddle. That’s how a gutter problem in September becomes a roof repair call in November.
And a gutter carrying twenty pounds of wet sludge plus a full load of water is exactly the one that pulls its hangers loose. We covered what happens next in our article on sagging gutters.
Do This Before the Next Big Rain
Clear the summer buildup now. Not in October. A September cleaning gets the trough and the downspout outlets open before the big rain, and it’s the first half of the two-cleaning approach that works best in our leaf-heavy area.
Check where the downspouts dump. Splash blocks kicked out of place, extensions crushed by the mower, and drains that discharge right against the foundation all undo the work the gutter did.
Look at the corners and end caps. Seams open up over a hot summer. A corner that drips in a sprinkle pours in a downpour.
Get the roof looked at while someone’s up there. Every gutter cleaning we do includes a walk of the roof, valleys and flashing. September is when we catch the cracked pipe boot or lifted shingle before fall rain and winter ice find it first.
Don’t Wait for the Leaves
Segelman Shaw Roofing, Siding & Gutters cleans, repairs and replaces gutters for homeowners across Rockland County, NY, Bergen County, NJ and Westchester County, NY. Roof repair is what we do most, so when we’re up there we’re checking the whole edge of your house, not just blowing out the trough.
Get a free estimate or call (845) 364-8200. Let’s get your gutters ready before September proves the point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Summer leaves behind seeds, twigs, shingle grit and pollen sludge that block downspout outlets. September’s heavy rain will find that blockage before October’s leaves add to it.
Very little. A gutter with a plugged downspout fills in minutes during a tropical downpour and overflows on both sides, sending water behind the fascia and onto the foundation.
No. Pine needles, granules and maple seeds collect on top of guards and inside the trough. Guards reduce the load but don’t remove the need for an inspection.
Yes. Every cleaning includes inspecting the roof, valleys and flashing and clearing debris from the roof itself, so small problems are caught before fall and winter make them bigger. Call (845) 364-8200 to schedule.
