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EF2 tornado in Ontario County, New York

Tornado July 7, 2025 · Ontario County, New York

EF2
Rating
1.7 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The National Weather Service surveyed damage in the Town of

Phelps in Ontario County from July 7 today. Damage began west of

Melvin Hill Road with a few broken hardwood branches but quickly

intensified to the east-southeast as multiple softwood trees

were snapped and uprooted around two homes and a barn. While

none of those structures received notable damage, multiple trees

nearby saw their trunks snapped. Damage continued east-southeast

to the north of County Road 23 with dozens of hardwood trees

snapped on the north side of a large farm area. As the damage

continued to the east-southeast, three residences received damage

around the roundabout at the intersection of County Road 23 and

Fort Hill Road. The worse damage was located just northwest of

the roundabout, where an entire roof and portions of the wall of

a home were destroyed. Nearby, another roof was fully destroyed,

as well. A barn just south of the roundabout was shifted off its

foundation, and a silo saw its roof about half removed.

From the damage surveyed today, as well as multiple pictures,

videos, and drone footage shared from multiple sources, the

National Weather Service storm survey team determined the

damage to be consistent with a tornado rated an EF-2 on the

Enhanced Fujita Scale. Maximum winds were estimated at 115 mph.

The wider storm

Showers and thunderstorms developed along lake breeze boundaries and a passing cold front on the afternoon of July 7. While there was plenty of instability, shear values were lower, but just enough to support a few severe thunderstorms that produced damage along with a tornado.

Began near Phelps (42.9241, -77.0703).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1285081. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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