The 7 tornadoes that touched down in the Adirondack Park bring the total to at least 18 in July in New York state
By Lauren Stanforth, News Editor
ALBANY — Meteorologists this week confirmed, through the help of satellite data, that two more tornadoes hit upstate New York during the severe weather event of July 16 — meaning a total of seven twisters hit the Adirondacks that day.
The recent additions were in remote, wooded areas without roads — necessitating a damage analysis through satellite and radar, said Christina Speciale, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albany. An EF-1 tornado was confirmed in Limekiln on the Herkimer and Hamilton County border. That twister reached a high speed of 100 mph, and caused 4 miles’ worth of damage. Another EF-1 tornado was confirmed in Wilcox Lake Forest on the border of Hamilton and Warren counties; the damage was similar to the one recorded in Limekiln.
The twisters joined the other tornadoes confirmed in the town of Ohio, Herkimer County; Day, Saratoga County; in Wells and Oxbow Lake, Hamilton County; and Chestertown, Warren County. Various state entities, including State Police, as well as weather watchers, helped collect the imagery needed to confirm the tornadoes. Straight-line winds that day, however, caused most of the damage seen across New York.
Speciale said the Adirondacks were lucky in that while there was property damage around Great Sacandaga Lake, most of the tornadoes were in areas where there were little to no people, hence fewer chances of injuries.
July has been a rare month for confirmed tornadoes in New York, as at least 18 were confirmed this month alone across upstate — including eight in the weather service’s Buffalo area and two in Oneida County tracked by the weather service in Binghamton. Damage along Route 29 just east of Broadalbin in Fulton County Wednesday was also confirmed as a “weak” EF-0 tornado.
Warren County this month tied its record of two confirmed tornadoes in a year; the last time was in 2020. Before that, Warren County had only three confirmed tornadoes since 1950, according to data kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Speciale said it is unusual to have so many tornadoes in one month in New York. But it is not rare to have that many statewide in a calendar year. According to NOAA, New York last had that many tornadoes in 2011, when there were 23 confirmed. (Only two of them that year might have been caused by the remnants of Hurricane Irene.)
This month has been active not only due to the July 16 event — which the weather service said happened because of what is called a Mesoscale Convective System that developed in the Midwest the day before — but also because the leftovers of Hurricane Beryl that hit some of New York caused at least two confirmed tornadoes in Erie and Chautauqua counties July 10.
Speciale said it is difficult to determine if there will be more tornadoes this year, but there is one indicator that might point to “yes.”
“The fact that the National Hurricane Center has predicted us to have an above-normal hurricane season, that can be an indicator, ‘Hey, we might experience more tornadoes,’ ” she said.
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