EF2 Tornado — Ontario, New York

2025-07-07 · near Phelps, Ontario, New York

Event narrative

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.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.9241, -77.0703)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1285081. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.