On the afternoon of July 26th, a significant severe weather event impacted portions of the Binghamton, NY forecast area. By the late morning/early afternoon, a warm front had lifted north through the region placing much of the Binghamton forecast area in a moderately unstable airmass.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BGM wrote it up.
On the afternoon of July 26th, a significant severe weather event impacted portions of the Binghamton, NY forecast area. By the late morning/early afternoon, a warm front had lifted north through the region placing much of the Binghamton forecast area in a moderately unstable airmass. Aloft, multiple approaching upper-level shortwave troughs approached the region from the central Great Lakes during the early afternoon hours which provided the initial forcing for thunderstorm development. Also, a punch of mid-level dry air helped create mid-level convective instability along with a favorable setup for strong damaging winds.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 26, 1:22 PM EST, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 222 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2012 .SYNOPSIS... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL RACE ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. SOME STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL, DAMAGING WINDS BEING THE MAIN THREAT, ALONG WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES. UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY PART OF THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... SHORT DISCUSSION TODAY DUE TO IMPENDING SVR WX... 2 PM UPDATE...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXIT THE AREA TO THE SOUTHEAST AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH BY DAYBREAK FRIDAY WITH OVRNGT MINS IN THE U60S/LWR 70S. LINGERING MOISTURE ALONG WITH EXTENSIVE CLD CVR AND RAIN WL LKLY RESULT IN PATCHY VSBY REDUCTIONS DUE TO FOG OVRNGT. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... UNSETTLED WX CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE RIGHT THROUGH EARLY PORTIONS OF THE WEEKEND AS BROAD CYCLONIC FLOW PERSISTS OVER THE NORTHEASTERN US. THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF UPPER SHORTWAVES WILL DIVE SOUTHEAST TOWARDS OUR REGION BY EARLY FRI...WHICH WILL INTERACT WITH ANOTHER SOUTHWARD MOVING COLD FRONT. AS THIS OCCURS...EXPECT THE RENEWED DEVELOPMENT OF SHWRS/STORMS BY LATE MORNING/AFTERNOON ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE AREA AS FRONTAL CONVERGENCE INTERACTS WITH INCREASING FORCING FROM ALOFT. WITH RESPECT TO SEVERE POTENTIAL...MUCH LOWER INSTABILITY WILL EXIST AS TODAY/S MOISTURE WILL BE SCOURED OUT WITH THIS AFTERNOON/S THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THAT SAID...DESPITE MODERATELY STRONG WIND FIELDS ALOFT (0-6 KM BULK SHEAR VECTORS ON THE ORDER OF 40 KTS)...SEVERE THREAT APPEARS MARGINAL BASED ON VERY LIMITED INSTABILITY. BY SATURDAY...YET ANOTHER SHORTWAVE DIVING INTO THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS WILL INTERACT WITH THE LINGERING FRONTAL BOUNDARY ONCE AGAIN TO PRODUCE CONTINUED CHANCES FOR SHWRS/STORMS. UPPER WIND FIELDS APPEAR MUCH WEAKER BY SATURDAY AS MAIN MID-LEVEL JET CORE DIVES WELL SOUTH OF OUR REGION...THIS ORGANIZED SEVERE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE IN THE OFFERING. AREAL COVERAGE AS SUGGESTED BY VARIOUS FCST MODELS TO INCLUDE THE WRF AND GFS SUPPORT MAINTAINING CHC MENTION FOR POPS ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWA THROUGH THE DAY. FINALLY BY SATURDAY NIGHT/EARLY SUNDAY...HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE NORTH-CENTRAL GREAT LAKES WILL FINALLY BEGIN MOVING TOWARDS THE AREA WHICH SHOULD LEAD TO A DECREASE IN SHWR/STORM ACTIVITY. DESPITE THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT ON FRIDAY...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR SEASONABLE VALUES THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... UPDATE AS OF 1 PM...IN THE INTEREST OF TIME WITH POTENTIAL SEVERE WX LOOMING TODAY...ONLY SUBTLE CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE LONG TERM FORECAST TODAY WHICH WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY HPC DAY 3-7 GUIDANCE. HIGH PRESSURE PARKED OVER THE REGION DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEKEND IS PROGGED TO GIVE WAY TO A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROF AND DIFFUSE SURFACE LOW PRESSURE ACROSS CNY AND NEPA BY TUESDAY. NOT MUCH TO SINK OUR TEETH INTO AS FAR AS A BONAFIDE WEATHER MAKER...BUT DIURNAL INSTABILITY WITHIN THE CYCLONIC FLOW WILL WARRANT CHANCES FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS AT ANY TIME AFTER MONDAY. IF ORGANIZED LOW PRESSURE FORMS ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD...THEN A CHANCE FOR STEADIER RAIN IN SOME AREAS WILL INCREASE FOR THURSDAY. HOWEVER, MODELS ARE NOT IN GOOD CONSENSUS WITH THAT SOLUTION AT THIS TIME. TEMPERATURES LOOK TO BE SEASONABLE FOR LATE JULY AND EARLY AUGUST. && .AVIATION /18Z THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... 130 PM UPDATE... A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA WITH THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING BETWEEN 18Z AND 20Z. KELM AND KITH WILL SEE -TSRA START TO AFFECT THE TERMINALS AROUND 19Z AND REMAINING SITES WILL SEE -TSRA AFTER 20Z. SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR TERMINALS SOUTH OF THE SOUTHERN TIER OF NY INTO NEPA. HAVE INCLUDED TEMPO GROUPS FOR 15G40KTS OUT OF THE WEST-NORTHWEST DIRECTION AS ANY SEVERE STORM MOVES THROUGH THE TERMINALS. STORMS WILL EXIT THE TERMINALS BETWEEN 01Z-03Z WITH MVFR CONDITIONS SETTING IN BEHIND THE STORMS GIVEN MOISTURE PRESENT IN ITS WAKE...WITH RESTRICTIONS TO VSBYS AND CIGS. REDEVELOPMENT OF BKN CUMULUS LATE MORNING FRI WITH -SHRAS POSSIBLE AGAIN BUT TOO EARLY TO INCLUDE MENTION IN TAFS. OUTLOOK... FRI NGT-SAT...RESTRICTIONS PSBL IN SHRA/TSRA. SAT NGT - TUE...MAINLY VFR UNDER BUILDING HIPRES. && .BGM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...NONE. NY...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...PVN NEAR TERM...PVN SHORT TERM...CMG LONG TERM...JAB AVIATION...PVN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 225 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2012 NYZ009-015>018-022>025-036-037-044>046-055-271830- NORTHERN ONEIDA-YATES-SENECA-SOUTHERN CAYUGA-ONONDAGA-STEUBEN- SCHUYLER-CHEMUNG-TOMPKINS-MADISON-SOUTHERN ONEIDA-CORTLAND-CHENANGO- OTSEGO-TIOGA- 225 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2012 ...TORNADO WATCH 525 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NEW YORK. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. TORNADO WATCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED. NYZ056-057-062-PAZ038>040-043-044-047-048-072-271830- BROOME-DELAWARE-SULLIVAN-BRADFORD-SUSQUEHANNA-NORTHERN WAYNE-WYOMING- LACKAWANNA-LUZERNE-PIKE-SOUTHERN WAYNE- 225 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2012 ...TORNADO WATCH 525 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NEW YORK...SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK AND NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. TORNADO WATCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 1014 AM EDT THU JUL 26 2012 NYZ009-015>018-022>025-036-037-044>046-262015- NORTHERN ONEIDA-YATES-SENECA-SOUTHERN CAYUGA-ONONDAGA-STEUBEN- SCHUYLER-CHEMUNG-TOMPKINS-MADISON-SOUTHERN ONEIDA-CORTLAND- CHENANGO-OTSEGO- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BOONVILLE...PENN YAN...SENECA FALLS... AUBURN...SYRACUSE...CORNING...HORNELL...WATKINS GLEN...ELMIRA... ITHACA...ONEIDA...UTICA...ROME...CORTLAND...NORWICH...ONEONTA... COOPERSTOWN 1014 AM EDT THU JUL 26 2012 ...AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS...GENERALLY BETWEEN 2 AND 8 PM. THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE WITH THE MAIN THREATS BEING DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...BUT AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS...FOR THE LATEST UPDATES...INCLUDING POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS. NYZ055>057-062-PAZ038>040-043-044-047-048-072-262015- TIOGA-BROOME-DELAWARE-SULLIVAN-BRADFORD-SUSQUEHANNA- NORTHERN WAYNE-WYOMING-LACKAWANNA-LUZERNE-PIKE-SOUTHERN WAYNE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...OWEGO...BINGHAMTON...WALTON...DELHI... MONTICELLO...TOWANDA...SAYRE...MONTROSE...TUNKHANNOCK... SCRANTON...WILKES-BARRE...HAZLETON...MILFORD...HONESDALE 1014 AM EDT THU JUL 26 2012 ...A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS...GENERALLY BETWEEN 2 AND 8 PM. THESE STORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE CENTRAL SOUTHERN TIER AND FINGER LAKES REGION AROUND 2 PM AND TRACK EASTWARD. THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE WITH THE MAIN THREATS BEING DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...BUT ISOLATED TORNADOES CANNOT BE RULED OUT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS...FOR THE LATEST UPDATES...INCLUDING POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS. PN
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
339 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0323 PM TSTM WND DMG WOODHULL 42.08N 77.42W
07/26/2012 STEUBEN NY 911 CENTER
POWERLINES DOWN IN WOODHULL BLOCKING BOTH LANES OF
TRAFFIC.
&&
RAMPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
345 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0332 PM TSTM WND DMG ADDISON 42.11N 77.23W
07/26/2012 STEUBEN NY 911 CENTER
TREE DOWN BLOCKING ROAD
&&
RAMPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
408 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0340 PM TSTM WND DMG ERWINS 42.12N 77.15W
07/26/2012 STEUBEN NY EMERGENCY MNGR
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN
&&
RAMThe Binghamton radar (KBGM), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:10 UTC.
10 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and wires were blown down in the Sayre and Athens area.
Heavy rain and dime size hail were also reported.
A roof was blown off a house. A building under construction was blown down.
Large groups of trees were blown down, some onto homes and barns. The tops of trees were broken off.
Many large trees were blown down.
Just north of Route 6 and 87 interchange, multiple trees were blown down. Three large loading dock doors were blown in on a warehouse.
A severe thunderstorm produced several areas of tree and minor structural damage to buildings along Davis Road. As the storm tracked east, a tornado was formed and initially touched down around 5 pm along Johnson Pond Road. Significant damage to softwoods and hardwoods was observed a two residences on this road with approximately 75 to 100 trees destroyed. The roof of a small, concrete block building was lifted off and tossed approximately 50 to 75 yards across the road and into a nearby field. The concrete block walls were pushed over. Minor shingle and siding damage was done to each of the residences. The tornado continued tracking east, and decended a hill toward Meshoppen Creek Road. A residence at the base of the hill experienced considerable structural damage from large trees falling into the building. Two sheds were destroyed by winds. The tornado then entered a field and grove of trees, causing damage to several dozen trees. The tree damage was in a chopped up and chaotic appearance, which is indicative of a tornado signature. The tornado lifted before climbing another ridge line to the east of Meshoppen Creek Road.
Damage occurred throughout the county, but it was most significant in the southern part. Trees and power lines were blown down. Two tractor trailers were blown over on Interstate 80. The emergency manager saw rotation in the clouds.
Trees were blown down.
Trees were blown down in Matamoras.
Trees were blown down.
A supercell thunderstorm moved into southern Luzerne county at approximately 5:05 PM EDT from east-central Columbia county. As the storm entered the county, doppler radar indicated a tight cyclonic circulation contained within the storm's mid-levels. As the storm traveled east, numerous trees were downed or uprooted just south of Sybertsville in the township of Sugerloaf. Reports from local Emergency Management Officials indicate that all tree damage in this location was oriented in the same direction, consistent with straight line wind damage. As the storm traveled east, extensive tree damage occurred in Butler Township along east Foothills Drive, immediately east of Route 309. Again, downed trees were oriented all in the same direction, consistent with straight line wind damage with winds estimated between 90-100 mph. The storm then continued east where extensive damage occurred along main street just south of Freeland in western Foster Township. At this location, an outside storage building was destroyed. Debris from the building then traveled through the air and penetrated in several locations the roof of a 58 foot tall building. After hitting and destroying the building, additional damage occurred directly to the northeast where several trees were downed or uprooted. Downed trees were convergent in nature, consistent with a tornadic circulation moving over the area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Pennsylvania, 2012Warnings in Pennsylvania, July 2012
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 400963, 400969, 400966, 400968, 400973, 400974, 400964, 400696, 400967, 400965, 400970, 400971, 400972, 400715.