Tornadoes and Hail in New York, May 18, 2000

A strong cold front crossed eastern New York late on May 18. At the same time, very strong winds aloft moved over the area. The combination of the instability, and lift ahead of the front, spawned a line of thunderstorms. These storm tapped into the strong wind aloft, to produce the largest outbreak of severe weather across eastern New York in nearly two years. While the vast majority of damage was from thunderstorm winds, there was also some hail damage reported, along with two confirmed tornadoes. It was the first time since June 1998 that a tornado was officially confirmed in eastern New York. Thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees a powerlines at several locations in Albany, Columbia, Greene, Montgomery, Saratoga, Schoharie and Ulster counties. Dutchess county was especially hard hit. A line of strong to locally severe thunderstorms first moved into Montgomery County during the mid afternoon. Strong winds blew down large trees in Fort Plain. Then a microburst produced a swath of damage, 8 miles long, from west to east in the town of Canajoharie. The swath began at the intersection of Nestle and Clinton roads where a large barn lost its roof and two sides. Debris was blown over the adjoining house, landing inside a garage on the other side of the intersection, as well as up the roadabout 40 feet . A wooden silo located adjacent to the garage lost one entire side, thus collapsing inward inside the silo. The rest of the damage was mainly from snapped power poles and trees, as the path ended just west of Knauderack Creek, adjacent to Bower road. Trees and powerlines came down in Selkirk, Albany county, as well as Gilboa and Jefferson in Schoharie county. At Ballston Lake, in Saratoga county, a microburst sheared off 8 forty-foot trees at the 10 to 20 foot level. One tree damaged a house. More trees and limbs fell in Clifton Park. Another series of microbursts began in Ulster county about a mile northwest of the center of Esopus. They knocked down several clusters of trees as they neared State HIghway Route 9W, while moving in an easterly direction. Embedded within the microburst, an F1 tornado, touched down briefly to the east of Black Creek and 9W, less than a tenth of a mile south of the center of Esopus. The track of the tornado was about a quarter mile long and 25 to 50 yards wide with numerous trees pushed about 70 degrees to the left of the storm track. There was little property damage due to the tornado, but it was sighted by nearby residents. Meanwhile the series of microbursts continued across the Hudson river, into Dutchess county, blowing over over the estreme southern portion of Hydeo Park as well as the Poughkeepsie Yacht club in northern Poughkeepsie. Winds were clocked at 126 mph at the Poughkeepsie Yacht club. Several boats were overturned and damaged. A trailer was overturned. The roof was removed from the Yacht club. Damage from this microburst fanned out to a width of approximately one hundred yards, and a path length of up to a quarter of a mile. The wind overturned a car. The roof was removed from the Yacht club. Damage from this microburst fanned out to a width of approximatley 100 yards, and a path length of up to a quarter of a mile. A car was damaged by a falling tree in Hyde Park. A weaker F0 tornado, touched down in the Fairview section of the town of Poughkeepsie, about one quarter mile east of the Fairview Fire Station, on the leading edge of another microburst. The width was 25 yards, the length less than one hundred yards. Damage from the tornado was marginal, confined to downed trees and some minor structural damage to seven homes. Thunderstorm winds produced damage in many other portions of Dutchess county. Another microburst produced damage between County Route 83, just north of U.S. Highway Route 44, east to the village of Leedsville. Damage included destruction to a barn on the Bel Air farm. Many trees were down in a huge swath with this microburst. There were unconfirmed sightings of funnel clouds in this area. Many trees fell in Millbrook, which was described as a war zone. Large trees were uprooted in Clinton Corners and falling trees knocked powerlines down in Rhinebeck. In Pawling, a large tree fell on power lines, then crashed onto a car, causing extensive damage. Trees were blown across a power line, which then fell on Allyn's restaurant in the Town of Washington. Trees and poles were also blown down in the village of Fishkill. Winds were clocked to 70 mph in Stone Ridge, and 60 mph at New Paltz, both in Ulster county. Many windows were smashed or blown out of buildings at the New Paltz S.U.N.Y. campus. Trees were blown over in Ellenville. A tree fell on the mayor's car in that town, destroying it. Another tree damaged a historical home. A 60 mph wind gust was also recoreded at Kinderhook, Columbia county. Two 50-foot concrete silos of a coach barn in Gallatin, Columbia county were obliterated. A door was blown off a nearby house. In the promixity of Gallatin, a car was destroyed by a fallen tree. Huge trees fell on Schneider road in Columbia county. Many trees were snapped off their bases in East Taghkanic. Shingles from a roof were blown off in Cairo, Greene county and large trees fell on a house in and around the town of Phoenicia. A microburst uprooted many 22 to 24 inch diameter trees and snapped utility lines in the vicinity of Route 23, a few hundred yards north of the intersection of County Route 23A. Dime size hail fell at Kerhonkson, Ulster county. Pea-size hail was noted at Tivoli and Clinton corners, both located in Dutchess county. While property damage with the hail was minimized, hail took a toll on apple orchards. Many apples were partially damaged by small hail in Ulster and Dutchess counties that produced permanent indentations on the apples, making them unusable for sale. Total crop damage could easily exceed a million dollars. Lightning took the life of two horses at a farm in Ballston Lake. At the height of the storms, up to 52,000 customers, mainly in the Mid Hudson Valley region, were without power. A funnel cloud was noted by two on-duty meteorologists at the National Weather Service office at Albany. There were no human injuries or casualties, reported to the National Weather Service, in association with this large severe outbreak.