TornadoLookup

Home / New York / Putnam

EF2 tornado in Putnam County, New York

Tornado May 15, 2018 · Putnam County, New York

EF2
Rating
1.2 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$250K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

Based on a National Weather Service storm survey, done in

conjunction with the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency

Services, is been determined that an EF2 tornado with estimated

peak winds of 115 mph moved through Kent, New York. The tornado

originated near apartments at 1213 New York Route 52. It continued

down NY State Route 52, damaging some roofs in the strip mall at

the intersection of Route 52 and Farmers Mill Road, where it also

knocked down portions of the parapet above the Dunkin Donuts, and

snapped and uprooted some trees. The tornado lifted near 52 Bowen

Road in Kent. The most extensive damage was along Schuykill

Court, where dozens of large trees were uprooted and snapped, with

a convergent pattern to most of the fallen trees. Based on this

damage, the tornado was classified as an EF2, with estimated

maximum winds of around 115 mph.

The wider storm

An approaching cold front triggered numerous severe thunderstorms over southeastern New York. These storms produced 3 tornadoes in the Lower Hudson Valley, as well as microbursts and macroburts.

Began near Ludingtonville (41.4996, -73.6847).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Putnam CountyEF0 Orange County 1 dead

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 756479. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.