Four twisters touched down in the Hudson Valley Tuesday in two hours’ time, making the event the worst May outbreak in New York in 16 years.
When you add the stealth tornado that rolled through the Finger Lakes 12 days earlier, this becomes the most tornadic May in 16 years as well — with nearly two weeks to go before the month ends.
Three New Yorkers and two Connecticut residents died during Tuesday’s storms, but none of those deaths were attributed to the four tornadoes, which struck in Ulster, Orange and Putnam counties late Tuesday afternoon.
The twisters were spawned by a large collection of storms that also spun off two more tornadoes in Connecticut and one in northern Pennsylvania, as well as extreme straight-line wind events in New York and Connecticut.
Power remains out and business closed in some locations three days later.
The outbreak was the worst in New York since May 31, 2002, when seven twisters in the southern part of the state left eight people injured.
The only cluster of May tornadoes in state history that was worse was on May 31, 1998, when 10 twisters were recorded in southern and eastern counties. Among them was an EF-3 monster that injured 78 people in Saratoga and Rensselaer counties and did $70 million in damage.
April and May are active tornado months in the Plains states and the Midwest, but not so much here. Since 1996, when modern tornado detection began, New York has averaged one tornado every two Aprils, and just 1½ tornadoes every May.
This May, then, has been a departure from the norm. The National Weather Service said Thursday that surveys found:
-An EF-1 tornado touched down about 2:29 p.m. Tuesday near Saugerties, Ulster County. It was on the ground for five miles and uprooted trees that damaged homes.
-An EF-O tornado — a relatively weak storm with winds of 75 mph — touched down in the town of Newburgh, Orange County at 4:16 p.m. It sheered off trees and was on the ground for 0.6 miles.
-An EF-2 tornado with winds of 115 mph touched down in Kent, Putnam County at 4:29 p.m. It damaged several commercial buildings and snapped or uprooted dozens of trees. It was on the ground for about 1 mile.
-An EF-1 touched down in Patterson, Putnam County about 4:32 pm. It had winds of 100 mph and destroyed numerous trees. It was on the ground for nearly three miles.
-The May 3 twister that touched off New York’s 2018 tornado season touched down in the town of Potter, Yates County in the evening of 2018. It was rated an EF-0, but destroyed a barn and knocked over a fence.
by Steve Orr (2018, May 18) Democrat and Chronicle
