National Weather Service Confirms Another EF-1 Tornado in Central New York

The National Weather Service says yet another twister touched down in Central New York last week, which ripped the roof off a mobile home, lifted a car that had people caught inside and turned broken branches into missiles that "impaled the ground."

Since last Tuesday's severe weather outbreak, the NWS has confirmed least eight tornadoes touched down in CNY, with the worst of them hitting the City of Rome.

Other twisters have since been confirmed in Pavillion, Canandaigua, Wells, Piesco, Warrensburg, and Canastota. The latter was an EF-1, which resulted in the death of an elderly man.

Late Monday night, the NWS confirmed yet another tornado struck Central New York, this time in the Town of Lee.

Crews had visited the area earlier in the day and confirmed shortly after, "The survey team has so far found damage consistent with a tornado."

A few hours after that initial report, the NWS confidently ruled that a monster EF-1 tornado had indeed ripped through parts of Lee. They ruled it had 95 mph winds and remained on the ground for 11 minutes. Its path of destruction was 6.5 miles long and 200 yards wide, of which it dissipated after crossing the Town of Western line.

Thankfully, no one was injured but several people had a very close brush with disaster. The NWS said there were "residents were in a vehicle that got lifted and moved slightly."

Capron Road appears to have sustained the most damage. Said the NWS, "2 trees fell on a residence and outbuilding on Capron Road, with significant roof damage. This was the area that experienced the most damage and widest footprint of downed trees."

"The damage pattern became more chaotic along Beartown Road," the NWS continued, "though there were a dozen small to medium branches that impaled the ground as missiles in a backyard."

Now with a tornado officially confirmed in the town, residents can hopefully begin filing insurance claims to repair whatever damage done to their properties.

The NWS still has more work to do in CNY, as residents in the Hinckley, Floyd, Morehouse, and Prospect areas are also requesting investigators check out their neck of the woods, too.

There are specific markers the NWS needs to confirm in order to suspect either a tornado or microburst impacted a specific area. Investigators say tornadoes leave a specific kind of damage.

Tornado damage often has a chaotic appearance, with larger uprooted trees often crossing each other.

Taking this much time and care ensures a better response to future weather events, says the NWS. These investigations help improve their warning systems, and are catalogued for historical reference.

If you think your area was impacted by a tornado last week, submit plenty of photographic evidence to the National Weather Service's Binghamton office.

Meantime, the NWS warns hazardous weather is possible in the coming days - but it won't be as severe as what the area endured last week. The greatest threat will likely be heavy rain.

Do you remember the weather being this bad in the summer? Let us know by giving us a shout via the station app below.

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