F1 tornado, Owego, New York, May 31, 2002

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, 2002

Touchdown

3:45 PM EDT (19:45 UTC)

Path length

6.0 miles (9.7 km)

Path width

1,000 yards (914 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

7

Property damage

$600,000

County

Tioga County

Touchdown point

42.130, -76.270

Lift-off point

42.130, -76.150

Record number

124

The tornado first touched down about a mile and a half northeast of the village of Owego, along Carmichael Road. As the tornado passed over a ridge toward Beecher Hill Road, the most extensive damage occurred. Along with major tree damage, two mobile homes were completely destroyed and a house suffered significant damage. Five people were injured in one of the mobile homes, suffering many cuts and bruises. Two elderly occupants of the other home also suffered minor injuries. A piece of lumber went through the side of a home across the street. The damage at this location was consistent with high end F1 tornado, with wind speeds estimated close to 110 mph. The tornado continued east and crossed Lisle Road. As the tornado came over another ridge toward Lisle Road, a gentleman in his barn witnessed the tornado with swirling debris coming over the ridge. He was able to take shelter before many of the windows were blown out of his barn. Significant tree damage could be seen, especially at the top of the ridge. The tornado continued east, crossing Gaskill Road. One property saw significant damage, with one barn destroyed and a shed from the property was torn apart. Debris was blown as far as a quarter mile away. Many large trees were uprooted with others twisted and broken off. Significant tree damage was also seen at the top of the ridge west of the property with many trees broken or twisted off at mid-trunk. Pieces of siding from a home were also found in this area. At this point, it appears the tornado lifted briefly before touching down for the final time in the area where Ford Road, Foster Road, and Whittemore Hill Road meet. The damage here consisted of another mobile home that was completely destroyed and significant tree damage. There was also a significant amount of tree damage along the entire path of the tornado, with many trees uprooted and twisted off in different directions. 30 to 50 homes suffered minor damage in addition to 2 homes that saw more significant damage and the 3 mobile homes that were destroyed. Many barns were also damaged and numerous sheds were destroyed.

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

8 minutes of warning. NWS BGM issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:37 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:15 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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:16 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.

Binghamton/Broome (BGM), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:46 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 2002 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

10 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.