F1 tornado, Peekskill, New York, June 2, 2000

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

June 2, 2000

Touchdown

7:05 PM EDT (23:05 UTC)

Path length

0.3 miles (0.5 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

County

Westchester County

Touchdown point

41.280, -73.930

Lift-off point

41.280, -73.930

Record number

377

Lines of severe thunderstorms swept southeast across the region. They produced one F1 tornado, one funnel cloud, and high winds that downed many trees and power lines and caused at least 11 injuries, 8 of which were in New York City.Based on a storm survey performed by NWS staff, an F1 tornado occurred around 7:05 pm EDT in the continental village region of the town of Cortlandt, about 3 miles north of Peekskill on the Westchester and Putnam Counties border. The tornado was classified as an F1 based on tree damage and their associated patterns. Touch down was on the southwest corner of the intersection of Highland Drive and Heath Terrace. The tornado moved northeast along the southeast shore of Cortlandt Lake in a counter-clockwise arched pattern lifting just south of the intersection of Schuyler Lane and Putnam Road. The Path Length was about 0.3 miles and Path Width averaged 33 yards. In the vicinity of Tyron Circle and Putnam Road, the tornado was at its' widest and strongest. Damage occurred to about 20 houses, with 7 houses incurring moderate damage. The tornado apparently reformed in 2 other locations as the severe thunderstorm moved east: Sprout Brook Road (Path Length about 0.15 miles) and Lakeview Road (Path Length just less than 0.1 miles). Numerous trees of 1 1/2 to 2 feet in diameter were snapped, mainly about 20 to 25 feet above the ground. Three telephone poles were snapped in the middle. Meteorologically, this tornado formed on the roll of a gust front that moved nearly 50 mph across the region and was likely on the ground for less than 1 minute.Here's a brief summary of damage reports received:In Orange County, a 60 mph wind gust was reported at the Plattekill Service Area along the NYS Thruway, just north of Leptondale. There were numerous reports of wires down, trees down on houses and cars and trees blocking roads in the vicinity of Wawayanda, Middletown, Cornwall, Goshen, Chester, and Newburgh.In Rockland County, a tree fell on and damaged a house on Mountain Avenue in Hillburn. Trees were also downed in New City. A large tree fell on a car in Haverstraw.In Putnam County, several trees and power lines were downed in Carmel and Brewster.In Westchester County, numerous trees were downed at Croton On Hudson, numerous trees and power lines were downed at Ossining, a tree fell on a house at Yonkers, and trees were downed in Valhalla.In Bronx County, numerous trees were downed countywide.In Kings County, one person was injured when a large store sign fell on top of people. A large inflatable structure was blown over. Lightning struck a tent at Old Fulton and Everett Streets around 8:40 pm EDT, which caused 5 injuries.In New York County, a scaffold collapsed on 7 cars at 94th Street and Second Avenue at 7:55 pm EDT. Debris blew off a scaffold and fell on and injured one person at 84th Street and Broadway around 8:00 pm. A tree fell on and injured one child at 214th Street and Indian Road around 8:00 pm. At Central Park, a peak wind gust of 38 mph occurred from the north at 7:38 pm.In Queens County, a spotter estimated a wind gust to 80 mph that caused a building collapse in Rockaway Beach. Numerous trees were downed in Queens Village. At JFK Airport, a peak wind gust of 45 mph occurred from the northwest at 7:59 pm EDT. At LaGuardia Airport, a peak wind gust of 44 mph occurred from the northwest at 7:42 pm.In Nassau County, a 60 mph wind gust caused wind damage in Levittown.In Suffolk County, high winds downed trees in Stony Brook and Setauket. One tree fell onto a car that injured a passenger on Lower Sheep Pasture Road around 8:03 pm EDT. An airplane pilot saw a funnel cloud and reported 0.75-inch diameter hail in Smithtown around 8:12 pm. A large tree was downed in Wading River around 8:17 pm.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:09 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 Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:04 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 2000 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.