F1 tornado, Colonie to Latham, New York, May 31, 1998

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F1

Date

May 31, 1998

Touchdown

4:37 PM EDT (20:37 UTC)

Path length

3.5 miles (5.6 km)

Path width

80 yards (73 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

County

Albany County

Touchdown point

42.730, -73.870

Lift-off point

42.750, -73.770

Record number

1007

During the morning hours of May 31, a strong low pressure system over the upper Great Lakes pushed a warm front across eastern New York and western New England. This set the stage for a major severe weather outbreak in eastern New York. In this highly sheared environment several lines of severe thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front. This resulted in three tornadoes and severe thunderstorm damage in every county. The most significant tornado occurred in Saratoga County and northern Rensselaer County. This tornado touched down at Ushers Road in the Town of Halfmoon and moved due east into the City of Mechanicville. Here, the tornado intensified to an F3 and destroyed the DiSiena Furniture Company. The tornado tracked over Viall Hill where several housing developments were devastated. It continued east into the Riverside area in the Town of Stillwater, where many homes, businesses and several warehouses including De Crescente Distributing Company were destroyed or heavily damaged. The tornado then crossed the Hudson River into Rensselaer County and decreased to an F2. The tornado tracked across the Town of Schaghticoke and just brushed the Village of Schaghticoke to the north. Czub Grain Farm on Verbeck Avenue was heavily damaged. It then followed the Hoosic River as it crossed the Village of Valley Falls and into the northern portion of the Town of Pittstown to Millertown. At this point the track became discontinuous and the intensity decreased to an F1. In the Town of Hoosick the path became continuous again and increased to an F2. Several farms received extensive damage including Lukeland Dairy Farm where a 60 ton silo and barn were leveled. The tornado then tracked from extreme northeast Rensselaer County to Bennington County in southern Vermont where it quickly decreased to an F1 after crossing the border. Governor Pataki declared a State of Emergency in Saratoga and Rensselaer Counties. The National Guard was called in by the Governor to assist in the clean up. In Saratoga County approximately 55 homes were destroyed and 230 were damaged. In Rensselaer County approximately 50 to 60 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Power was not restored to parts of this region for three to four days. Approximately 70 injuries occurred with this tornado but no one was killed. Another tornado tracked across southern Rensselaer County. This tornado first touched down on Palmer Road about two miles east of Interstate 90 in the Town of Schodack. The tornado moved due east and passed just south of North Schodack then tracked east northeast to Millers Corners on the south shore of Burden Lake. The damage path continued in this direction to Pike Pond before it dissipated at Alps Mountain. This tornado destroyed three barns, damaged several homes and produced extensive tree damage along its path. The last tornado tracked across the Albany International Airport. It began southwest of the airport about one-half mile west of Memory Gardens Cemetery. The damage path continued east northeast to the Albany ASOS unit where an 82 mile an hour gust was reported. Next it tracked near the Air National Guard facility at the Albany Airport before it crossed Interstate 87 and dissipated. The most widespread damage occurred near the Hilton Hotel where several trees were uprooted or sheared off. At Easton in Washington County, a microburst producing winds of 100 miles an hour took the roof off the fire house and leveled a barn after it was carried 60 yards. South of the Village of Herkimer in Herkimer County, a powerful downburst took the roof off a T hangar at a small private airport and damaged two airplanes. A couple of out buildings and a small trailer office were also rolled off their foundations. The severe weather caused widespread power outages across all of eastern New York. The damaging winds downed power lines, power poles and trees in many locations. Structural damage occurred to several homes and garages due to downed trees. Damage to crops was also quite extensive especially in the mid Hudson Valley and Capital District. Resources from the State Department of Agriculture and Markets were made available to many counties in this region. Approximately 25 cows were killed across the area due to either electrocution or collapsed barns.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

2 minutes of warning. NWS ALY issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:35 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 10:32 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Albany radar (KENX), 26 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1998 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.