F2 tornado, Lynbrook, New York, September 7, 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 mph

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

3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

   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

F2

Date

September 7, 1998

Touchdown

2:55 PM EDT (18:55 UTC)

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

6

Property damage

$1.0 million

County

Nassau County

Touchdown point

40.650, -73.680

Lift-off point

40.650, -73.680

Record number

1297

An intense line of severe thunderstorms oriented from north to south developed during Labor Day afternoon ahead of a strong approaching cold front. As the storms moved east at 40 to 50 mph, they produced high winds, large hail, and an isolated tornado. Wind gusts from 60 to 80 mph downed many trees and power lines throughout the area. The cost estimates of damage included above are preliminary figures submitted by the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management.In Richmond County, the following peak wind gusts were reported: 80 mph at Great Kills, the Verranzano Bridge, and in Richmond. High winds downed trees and caused a building to collapse in Richmond. One tree fell on and injured a man in Richmond.In New York County (Manhattan), high winds caused a building to collapse.In the Bronx, high winds downed a tree that fell on 3 people resulting in 1 death and 2 injuries in the courtyard of the Edenwald Houses at 1135 East 229th Street.In Kings County (Brooklyn), high winds downed and uprooted several large trees. One tree fell on and injured a person at East 229th Street. Five to 6-foot diameter trees were uprooted east of Coney Island in the Gerritsen Beach Section, where 3 funnel clouds were also sighted and a firefighter was injured from large hail. Large trees also fell on and damaged cars in Bensonhurst.In Queens County, a peak wind gust of 62 mph was measured at both LaGuardia Airport and at JFK Airport.In Nassau County, the following peak wind gusts were reported: 75 mph in Farmingdale, 60 mph in Port Washington and Mineola and 58 mph at Farmingdale Republic Airport. High winds downed large tree limbs at Rockville Center, Baldwin, and Oceanside and downed trees in Long Beach, Massapequa, and Valley Stream. One-inch diameter hail dented cars and covered the ground in Farmingdale.In Suffolk County, high winds overturned many boats in the Great South Bay, downed large trees in West Babylon and Rocky Point and downed large tree limbs in Wading River. One person died when a thunderstorm wind gust capsized a 19 foot sail boat in Great South Bay near Copiague. A Centerport woman, 36, and her daughter, 3, were injured when a tree fell on them in the parking lot of the Ground Round Restaurant and CVS on Fort Salonga Road. The following peak wind gusts were reported: 72 mph in Babylon and 65 mph in Fire Island.

The NWS confirmed that an F2 tornado was responsible for significant damage that occurred in Lynbrook. Most of the village received damage from straight line winds up to 80 mph, that was associated with a severe squall line. Downed trees covered the village with some structural damage where the F2 tornado touched down.The major path of damage was from the northwest section of Lynbrook east-southeast to the southeast section of the village. Funnel clouds were observed from near the intersection of Marshall Ave. and Burtis Street and to the southeast. A tornado was first sighted by two eyewitnesses on Hampton Place. It rose and touched down several times: Second, near Winter Street and across Glover Circle; Third, along Peninsula Blvd. between Earle and Benton Avenues; and Fourth, as a weak F2 near the intersection of Rocklyn Ave. and Merrick Road. It moved across the Long Island Railroad Tracks and Sunrise Highway before it finally dissipated.More than three hundred trees were blown over, many on houses and cars. Six people received minor injuries. Four of these were in "The Fun Zone" on Rocklyn Avenue. One woman was slightly injured by a tree that fell on her car. One police officer was also injured.

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

2 minutes of warning. NWS OKX issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:53 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:25 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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 10:39 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.

New York/Jf Kennedy (JFK), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

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

3 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.