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EF1 tornado in Putnam County, New York

Tornado May 15, 2018 · Putnam County, New York

EF1

Rating

2.9 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

$100K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 EF1 tornado with estimated peak winds

of 100 mph moved along a discontinuous path through Patterson, New

York. The tornado originated along NY State Route 22, north of

the intersection with Haviland Hollow Road, near the Watchtower

Educational Center. The tornado then tracked along East Branch

Road, turned left toward Putnam Lake, then lifted near the

intersection of East Branch Road and Fairfield Drive. The storm

snapped multiple trees along its path, not all of it continuous.

The most extensive damage occurred in the general vicinity of 706

East Branch Road, where multiple trees were uprooted and snapped,

lying in a convergent pattern, and where leaves were splattered on

three sides of the house. Based on this information, the tornado

was classified as an EF1 with estimated maximum winds of 100 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 Haviland Hollow (41.4929, -73.5854).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Putnam County EF0 Orange County 1 dead

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 756481. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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