EF1 tornado in Tioga County, New York

This is a continuation of the 14 mile long tornado that first touched down in North Chemung, Chemung County. The tornado moved east and entered Tioga County on a hill just northwest of Lockwood and then moved through the town of Lockwood. East of Lockwood and similar to the Elmira tornado, the tornado takes a turn to the southeast doing heavy damage along Crandall Hill Road and down across Oak Hill Road ending just east of there and north of the town of Barton. The majority of damage was to softwood and hardwood trees which were uprooted or snapped. Unlike the extensive straight-line wind damage found to the south of this track, this damage clearly had signs of circular motion in a very concentrated and narrow path. The damage path averaged about 200 yards wide. Some homes, garages and sheds were damaged by wind with trim or siding torn or shingles off roofs. Some homes had more significant damage from trees falling on them. One barn was completely destroyed.

On the afternoon of July 26th, a significant severe weather event impacted portions of the Binghamton, NY forecast area. By the late morning/early afternoon, a warm front had lifted north through the region placing much of the Binghamton forecast area in a moderately unstable airmass. Aloft, multiple approaching upper-level shortwave troughs approached the region from the central Great Lakes during the early afternoon hours which provided the initial forcing for thunderstorm development. Also, a punch of mid-level dry air helped create mid-level convective instability along with a favorable setup for strong damaging winds.