Tornadoes · United States · New York · 2014

EF1 tornado, Parksville, New York, July 13, 2014

This EF1 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Sullivan County on July 13, 2014, touching down at 8:30 PM EDT and reaching 270 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
July 13, 2014
Touchdown
8:30 PM EDT (00:30 UTC)
Path length
0.8 miles (1.2 km)
Path width
270 yards (247 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Sullivan County
Touchdown point
41.850, -74.770
Lift-off point
41.850, -74.770
Record number
1407131830-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A weak frontal boundary and a strong upper level disturbance helped develop numerous severe thunderstorms. Favorable and strong wind shear in the lower and middle layers of the atmosphere resulted in damaging winds and tornadoes across central New York.

An EF1 tornado with estimated maximum wind speeds of 90 MPH had a path width of 270 yards and a path length of 3/4 of a mile. Cosmetic damage occurred to siding, roofing and chimneys to two residences. Numerous yard ornaments and rail fencing was displaces to the left hand side of the path. Catastrophic tree damage with blow downs, snap-offs and twisting of hardwoods and large hemlock trees occurred in the core of the path.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:06 UTC and running to 01:49 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:06 UTC01:49 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchBGM
20:55 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBGM
21:09 UTC03:15 UTCFlood AdvisoryBGM
21:41 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningBGM

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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 air that afternoon

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.

Albany, NY (KALY), 00:00Z

0.5 hours before the tornado, 121 km from the path. July 14, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albany, NY at 00:00Z on 2014-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 372 joules per kilogram, CIN -65, lifted condensation level 844 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 00:00Z on 2014-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1360 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
844 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
355 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
9.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Albany, NY (KALY), 12:00Z

11.5 hours after it, 121 km from the path. July 14, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2014-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 46 joules per kilogram, CIN -4, lifted condensation level 644 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2014-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
46 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Surface CAPE
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:27 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:46 UTCTSTM WND DMGNapanochUlster, NYTREE ON A HOUSE AT 34 OLD LACKAWACK ROAD
22:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGNapanochUlster, NYTREES AND WIRES DOWN AT 39 ROUTE 55
22:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Se EllenvilleUlster, NYTREES DOWN BLOCKING ROAD ACROSS NY ROUTE 52. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR
23:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Se EllenvilleUlster, NYTREES DOWN BLOCKING ROAD ACROSS NY ROUTE 52
23:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGEllenvilleUlster, NYUTILITY POLE SNAPPED WITH WIRES DOWN AT 826 OAK RIDGE ROAD.
23:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGGardinerUlster, NYTREES AND WIRES DOWN AT ROUTE 32.
23:18 UTCTSTM WND DMGGardinerUlster, NYTREE AND WIRES DOWN. PHILLIES BRIDGE ROAD.
23:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGModenaUlster, NYTREES DOWN
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ne ParksvilleSullivan, NYPOSSIBLE TORNADO. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO MANY TREES AND HOUSES OVER A SMALL AREA TO THE NORTHEAST OF PARKSVILLE.
00:30 UTCTORNADOParksvilleSullivan, NYAN EF1 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS OF 90 MPH HAD A PATH WIDTH OF 270 YARDS AND A PATH LENGTH OF 3/4 OF A MILE. COSMETIC DAMAGE OCCURRED TO SIDING... ROOFING AND CHIMNEYS TO TWO RESIDENCES. NUMEROUS YARD OR
00:59 UTCTSTM WND DMGGardinerUlster, NYTREE AND WIRES DOWN. PHILLIES BRIDGE ROAD.
01:10 UTCFLOODDepositBroome, NYFLOODING ON OLD ROUTE 17 AND ROUTE 41 IN DEPOSIT.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 13, 2014

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 131:40 PM MDTEF0Laramie, WY0.225
July 134:34 PM EDTEF1Schuyler, NY3.5125$50,000
July 133:09 PM MDTEF0Kimball, NE0.125
July 137:37 PM EDTEF0Berkeley, WV0.150

What this means

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.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.