EF1 tornado, Presho to East Corning, New York, July 26, 2012

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

July 26, 2012

Touchdown

3:44 PM EDT (19:44 UTC)

Lifted

3:46 PM EDT (19:46 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

2.6 miles (4.1 km)

Path width

800 yards (732 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$200,000

County

Steuben County

Touchdown point

42.120, -77.020

Lift-off point

42.120, -76.970

Record number

1207261344-01

On the afternoon of July 26th, a significant severe weather event impacted portions of the Binghamton, NY forecast area. By the late morning/early afternoon, a warm front had lifted north through the region placing much of the Binghamton forecast area in a moderately unstable airmass. Aloft, multiple approaching upper-level shortwave troughs approached the region from the central Great Lakes during the early afternoon hours which provided the initial forcing for thunderstorm development. Also, a punch of mid-level dry air helped create mid-level convective instability along with a favorable setup for strong damaging winds.

A tornado touched down near the intersection of Ryers Creek Road and River Road. Damage was maily caused by trees falling on property along Ryers Creek Road. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped in a narrow, concentrated line crossing the valley.

Damage began in heavily wooded property along Welch Road west of the community college. The path moved through the South Corning Community College with most of the damage to trees. It moved down the hill impacting trees and property to the east of the community college and moving into South Corning area. Homes and property were impacted along County Route 44 as the tornado moved east. Two silos were damaged and airborne missiles penetrated a house. There was damage to siding, trim/flashing, and porches. A couple sheds were destroyed. Many homes will have to deal with tree removal. Numerous trees came down in a community just south of 44 on Brown Hollow Road. The tornado ended near Murphy Road.

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

9 minutes of warning. NWS BGM issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:35 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:12 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:17 UTC and running to 21:49 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 16:30 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 Binghamton radar (KBGM), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:42 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 2012 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

7 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.