EF1 tornado, Campbell to East Campbell, New York, April 27, 2011

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

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

3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

6. EF5over 200 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

EF1

Date

April 27, 2011

Touchdown

8:04 PM EDT (00:04 UTC)

Lifted

8:09 PM EDT (00:09 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

4.6 miles (7.4 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$150,000

County

Steuben County

Touchdown point

42.210, -77.200

Lift-off point

42.260, -77.140

Record number

1104271804-01

A significant severe weather outbreak developed across central New York as a storm system moved east from the Great Lakes. First, showers and thunderstorms developed early in the evening on the 27th, as an upper level disturbance approached the region. Two of the more significant storms included one supercell that produced a tornado in Steuben county, and a bowing line segment that caused tree and structural damage across Steuben, Chemung and Schuyler counties. Elsewhere across central New York, storms caused scattered wind damage and heavy rain. ||After a brief break in the late evening, mini super cells developed overnight ahead of a cold front. Several tornadoes and severe thunderstorms developed between about 1:30 a.m. and 6 a.m., with many reports of damage. Most of the tornadoes were EF1 and EF2. Significant flash flooding also transpired during the overnight hours.

The tornado first touched down on a hillside just west of Hough Road, in the town of Campbell. As the tornado topped the crest of the hill and descended towards Hough Road, dozens of trees were either snapped off or uprooted, in a swath about 150 yards wide. Included in this grove of trees were numerous large healthy hardwoods. As the tornado crossed Hough Road, it damaged two homes and a storage barn. The houses sustained mostly roof and siding damage, while the barn (actually bolted to a foundation) was moved off of its cement padding, with heavy damage to the roof and two of the walls, with its shingles blown westward back across Hough Road and into a field. A large camper was also blown cross-wise about 6 inches. Several large pine trees were uprooted on these properties, and facing northeastward. The tornado was estimated to be EF1 strength at this location.||Farther northeast, sporadic tree snaps and uproots were noted, until an area of heavier damage was once again seen near Tannery Road, just west of the Cohocton River. Once again, a swath of trees were either snapper or uprooted, just behind a residence southwest of Tannery Road. Again, many large healthy trees were included in this group, including some hardwoods, with a chaotic damage pattern noted. An EF1 rating was estimated at this location. The tornado appeared to have lifted for a brief time, with little damage noted to the residence itself.||A short distance further to the northeast, the storm crossed Interstate 86, just east of Exit 41. Several tree uproots and snaps occurred on either side of the highway, with two large trees uprooted in the highway median.||Just northeast of Interstate 86, along County Route 415, more large trees were either uprooted or snapped. One tree temporarily blocked Route 415, and another nearly hit several trailer homes in the Seager Court Trailer Park, and blocked entry to the complex.||The storm then continued northeastward and up a large ridge. Near the ridge top, at the corner of Rumsey Road and Dug Road, a large section of trees were heavily damaged (snapped or uprooted). The center line of the damage appeared to be along Dug Road, with the trees pointed mainly in a westerly direction along the north side of Dug Road, and in an easterly direction along the south side. This damage pattern implied convergent rotation, with an EF1 rating again given at this location.||Little or no damage was found farther to the northeast.

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 23:56 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:29 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:10 UTC and running to 02:00 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:12 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 Binghamton radar (KBGM), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:02 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

209 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 210 of them

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.