Thunderstorm Wind in Delaware County, New York

A severe microburst with estimated wind speeds of up to 90 mph, occurred just northwest to north of Cooks Falls, NY near the southeastern edge of Delaware County. There was sporadic damage spread across southern Delaware County from the severe thunderstorm that tracked through the area late in the morning. However, straight-line wind damage was most concentrated in a microburst footprint that encompassed Cooks Hollow and Butternut Grove in the Beaver Kill Valley, and especially up the Russell Brook drainage for at least a mile. The damage pattern diverged from the middle of the path, indicative of a downburst.

This severe microburst impacted two campgrounds with very damaging straight line winds. Many recreational vehicles and camper units, a few tents, and at least two vehicles were heavily damaged and in some cases destroyed by falling trees. Some of the trees or large branches exceeded a foot in diameter. A woman unfortunately perished when a large tree snapped and fell on her site, crushing it. At least one other person was injured with a hit to the head. There was an unknown number of additional

though minor injuries. Eyewitnesses reported that the winds came up suddenly and then lasted at least 5 minutes with one tree after another falling during that period.

Scattered thunderstorms developed along and ahead of a cold front, and were most numerous over the Catskills and Sullivan County. A few storms became severe, producing damaging wind gusts that mainly knocked down trees and wires. However, one storm produced a severe microburst that cause damage at two separate campgrounds in Delaware County, with one injury and one fatality when a tree fell through a camper.