EF1 tornado in Albany County, New York

A tornado continued into northwestern Albany County after a long path across Schenectady County. The tornado produced damage to trees and a roof on Bozenkill Road before dissipating. Although the entire path of the tornado was nearly 7 miles, it was only on the ground in Albany County for about a half of a mile.

A potent shortwave trough was moving from the eastern Great Lakes towards upstate New York during the afternoon on Thursday, May 22nd. A complex frontal system was moving from west to east during the mid afternoon hours, with the triple point of where the occluded, cold and warm fronts meet situated over the Mohawk Valley. There was a significant gradient along the warm front, between warm and unstable air over the Mohawk Valley and cooler, more stable air over far eastern New York that originated off the western Atlantic Ocean.

As a result, a large supercell thunderstorm developed along this boundary over the southern Adirondacks and eastern Mohawk Valley and it quickly strengthened. It produced very large hail as large as 4 inches in diameter in the Amsterdam area. As this storm continued to strengthen even further, it moved south to southeast towards the Helderbergs and western parts of the Capital Region, where it produced a tornado. The tornado was on the ground for 7 miles and reached EF3 strength with maximum winds of 140 MPH, as it passed through the town of Duanesburg. The tornado dissipated once it reached western Albany County, and the more stable air in place allowed thunderstorms to weaken as they reached the Hudson Valley. Aside from one additional report of large hail in the mid-Hudson valley, no other thunderstorms reached severe levels and the threat for storms diminished by the evening with passage of the occluded boundary.