Damaging Winds and High Wind in New York, February 22, 1997

A well defined cold front produced strong gusty winds over much of central New York as it passed the region during the late morning and early afternoon hours of the 22nd. The most significant damage and highest wind gusts occurred in sections of the central southern tier, western Catskills, and Finger Lakes regions of New York. A wind gust of 65 mph was recorded at the Elmira-Corning regional airport in Chemung county shortly after 930 am. In Seneca county, widespread power outages occurred in the late morning from downed trees and power lines. Across the higher terrain of Delaware county, state police personnel relayed reports of many trees and telephone poles lying across roadways. A skywarn spotter near Walton recorded a wind gust to 65 mph shortly after 12 noon.

A line of fast moving thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front which crossed central New York in the late morning and midday hours of the 22nd. Wind gusts with these storms produced damage across many parts of central and northern Chenango county. Numerouse large trees and power lines were knocked down from Afton to New Berlin.

The line of thunderstorms which produced wind damage across the northern half of Chenango county extended up into Oneida county as well with several additional wind damage reports. Many large trees and power lines were knocked over near Hinckley and also in and around the city of Utica.