EF0 Tornado — Genesee, New York

2022-04-25 · near Alexander, Genesee, New York

Event narrative

An NWS storm survey team found that a tornado initially touched down just north of the Alexander Fire Department and Recreational Hall with damage to the roof of a pavilion. A nearby building had its metal roof peeled back and a trailer, with some supporting anchor braces, was rolled over on its side. The tornado continued east-northeast snapping numerous trees in a wooded area just to the west of NYS Route 98/Alexander Road. The tornado then removed shingles and shattered windows to residences along Alexander Road then produced tree damage in a convergent pattern to the east just before crossing Tonawanda Creek. Finally, the tornado crossed a field before snapping two very large trees at the Alexander Cemetery and an adjacent commercial building. This is where the tornado damage ended.

Wider weather episode

A cold front advanced slowly towards western New York in the afternoon and evening with convection focused along a pre-frontal trough and an outflow boundary ahead of the main cold front. Large scale support was weak, with the mid-level trough and upper level jet lagging well behind the cold front, which yielded the bulk of the large scale ascent above the cold, post-frontal air. A broken line of convection developed over northern Ohio and lasted for a number of hours as it crossed northeast Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania, and eventually entered western New York. A very narrow axis of modest instability developed just ahead of the line and advected east into western New York. Storms that fired harnessed this instability as it intersected the lake breeze boundary to the east of Lake Erie. This allowed for multiple bowing segments to form over the western Southern Tier. These cells eventually were able to move east of the lake breeze boundary and formed a quasi-linear convective system that advanced toward the Genesee Valley. Multiple reports of wind damage were received, and a NWS storm survey confirmed a tornado in the Town of Alexander in Genesee County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.8975, -78.2628)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1023263. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.