Tornadoes · United States · New York · 2014
EF1 tornado, New London, New York, July 8, 2014
This EF1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Oneida County on July 8, 2014, touching down at 6:33 PM EDT and reaching 600 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 8, 2014
- Touchdown
- 6:33 PM EDT (22:33 UTC)
- Path length
- 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
- Path width
- 600 yards (549 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $30,000
- County
- Oneida County
- Touchdown point
- 43.200, -75.600
- Lift-off point
- 43.200, -75.600
- Record number
- 1407081633-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong upper level system moving across the region led to the development of numerous severe thunderstorms across central New York during the afternoon and evening hours of July 8th. With a tremendous favorable atmospheric wind pattern present, severe thunderstorms resulted in widespread wind damage along with several tornadoes.
An EF1 tornado touched down with estimated maximum wind speeds of 80 to 90 MPH. It traveled with a path length of 1 mile and a maximum path width of 600 yards. This tornado damaged a pavilion, lightly damaged a home and uprooted numerous trees.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
17 minutes of warning. NWS BGM issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:16 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:07 UTC and running to 00:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:07 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | BGM |
| 22:16 UTC | 23:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | BGM |
| 22:46 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BGM |
| 22:53 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BGM |
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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:36 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), 12:00Z
10.6 hours before the tornado, 155 km from the path. July 8, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 315 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -74 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 951 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.7 K/km
Albany, NY (KALY), 00:00Z
1.4 hours after it, 155 km from the path. July 9, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 369 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -75 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1230 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1512 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 288 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 360 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 6.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.6 K/km
The radar
The Ft Drum radar (KTYX), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:31 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Baldwinsville | Onondaga, NY | NUMEROUS UPROOTED TREES |
| 21:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Wnw Syracuse | Onondaga, NY | MUCH OF ROOF PEELED OFF OF WEST END BAR AND GRILLE AT NYS FAIRGROUNDS. RADAR ESTIMATED TIME. |
| 21:58 UTC | HAIL 1 | Solvay | Onondaga, NY | ALSO 50-55 MPH WINDS |
| 22:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | East Syracuse | Onondaga, NY | HEAVY DAMAGE TO A NATIONAL GRID SUB-STATION. LARGE SWATHS OF TREES DOWN. |
| 22:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | East Syracuse | Onondaga, NY | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON HOUSES |
| 22:04 UTC | DOWNBURST 75 | East Syracuse | Onondaga, NY | CONFIRMED 65-75 MPH MICROBURST IN EAST SYRACUSE. WIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE AND A FEW SNAPPED POWER POLES. |
| 22:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | East Syracuse | Onondaga, NY | CONFIRMED 65-75 MPH MICROBURST IN EAST SYRACUSE. WIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE AND A FEW SNAPPED POWER POLES. |
| 22:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Syracuse | Onondaga, NY | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON FREMONT ROAD AND KIRKVILLE ROAD |
| 22:07 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 S Palermo | Oswego, NY | TREES DOWN |
| 22:16 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sw Pineville | Oswego, NY | 11 INCH AND 30 INCH DIAMETER MAPLE TREES DOWN. |
| 22:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wnw Stillwater | Oswego, NY | LINE OF TREES BROKEN OFF 30 FEET UP FROM GROUND |
| 22:27 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Canastota | Madison, NY | TREES AND WIRES DOWN |
| 22:33 UTC | TORNADO | New London | Oneida, NY | EF1 TORNADO. 80-90 MPH WINDS. PATH LENGTH 1 MILE. MAX PATH WIDTH 600 YARDS. NUMEROUS UPROOTED TREES. HEAVILY DAMAGED PAVILION. LIGHTLY DAMAGED HOME. |
| 22:39 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Sylvan Beach | Oneida, NY | TREES AND WIRES ON HOUSE. POSSIBLE STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE. |
| 22:50 UTC | DOWNBURST 70 | Rome | Oneida, NY | CONFIRMED 60-70 MPH MICROBURST THROUGH THE CITY OF ROME. SOME BRANCHES DOWN AND A FEW UPROOTED TREES. |
| 22:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Rome | Oneida, NY | CONFIRMED 60-70 MPH MICROBURST THROUGH THE CITY OF ROME. SOME BRANCHES DOWN AND A FEW UPROOTED TREES. |
| 22:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Rome | Oneida, NY | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN |
| 22:51 UTC | TSTM WND GST 58 | Oneida Co Reg Arpt | Oneida, NY | |
| 22:51 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | Rome | Oneida, NY | |
| 22:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Verona | Oneida, NY | ROOF OFF RESIDENCE ON RT. 26 |
| 23:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ne Peterboro | Madison, NY | *** 3 FATAL *** POSSIBLE TORNADO. 3 CONFIRMED FATALITIES FROM THREE COLLAPSED HOMES. UNKNOWN INJURIES. |
| 23:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ne Peterboro | Madison, NY | *** 4 FATAL *** POSSIBLE TORNADO. 4 CONFIRMED FATALITIES FROM 3 COLLAPSED HOMES. 2 OTHER DESTROYED HOMES AS WELL. NWS SURVEY TO BE CONDUCTED WED. |
| 23:02 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ne Peterboro | Madison, NY | *** 4 FATAL *** TORNADO IN SMITHFIELD NORTHEAST OF PETERBORO. AN EF2 TORNADO PRODUCED 4 FATALITIES IN SMITHFIELD. PATH WIDTH WAS 235 YARDS. LENGTH WAS 2.5 MILES. 3 HOMES DESTROYED AND 5 ADDITIONAL HOMES SUSTAINED SIGNIFI |
| 23:10 UTC | DOWNBURST 95 | 4 Ne Remsen | Oneida, NY | DOWNBURST WINDS IMPACTED A 10 MILE LONG AREA... BY ABOUT 1 MILE WIDE. MOST OF THE DAMAGE WAS SPORADIC UNTIL NEAR ROUTE 365 AND FAIRCHILD ROAD. JUST SOUTH OF THE STOP AND GO ON ROUTE 365... HUNDREDS OF HARDWOOD TREES WERE |
| 23:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ne Remsen | Oneida, NY | DOWNBURST WINDS IMPACTED A 10 MILE LONG AREA BY ABOUT 1 MILE WIDE. MOST OF THE DAMAGE WAS SPORADIC UNTIL NEAR ROUTE 365 AND FAIRCHILD ROAD. JUST SOUTH OF THE STOP AND GO ON ROUTE 365... HUNDREDS OF HARDWOOD TREES WERE UP |
| 23:12 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nne Northwood | Herkimer, NY | TREE ON WIRE ON FIRE IN THE VICINITY OF 400 WHEELERTOWN ROAD |
| 23:25 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Marcy | Oneida, NY | TREES ALSO UPROOTED |
| 23:25 UTC | TORNADO | Deerfield | Oneida, NY | A SMALL TORNADO TRACKED FOR APPROXIMATELY 1.3 MILES THROUGH A RESIDENTIAL AREA NEAR UTICA NY. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AS EF-1 WITH MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF 90 MPH. DOZENS OF TREES WERE CHOPPED UP OR FELLED BY THE T |
| 23:32 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Schuyler Corners | Herkimer, NY | TREE BLOCKING ROAD |
| 23:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Newport | Herkimer, NY | TREE DOWN AND ON FIRE |
| 23:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Poland | Herkimer, NY | MULTIPLE TREES AND WIRES DOWN COUNTYWIDE |
| 23:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Poland | Herkimer, NY | MULTIPLE TREES AND WIRES DOWN COUNTYWIDE...TREE AND WIRES ON HOUSE AND WIRES ON ROAD IN POLAND-NORWAY |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | West Winfield | Herkimer, NY | TREES AND WIRES DOWN |
| 23:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Cedarville | Herkimer, NY | TREES AND WIRES DOWN |
| 00:32 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Schuyler Corners | Herkimer, NY | TREE BLOCKING ROAD |
| 00:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Newport | Herkimer, NY | TREE DOWN AND ON FIRE |
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 8, 2014
13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 8 | 1:33 PM EDT | EF1 | Medina, OH | 8.3 | 200 | $78,000 | ||
| July 8 | 1:43 PM EDT | EF1 | Medina, OH | 1.6 | 200 | $20,000 | ||
| July 8 | 2:15 PM EDT | EF1 | Mahoning, OH | 5.4 | 200 | $225,000 | ||
| July 8 | 2:48 PM EDT | EF1 | Mercer, PA | 2.5 | 150 | $75,000 | ||
| July 8 | 3:25 PM EDT | EF1 | Monongalia, WV | 2.0 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| July 8 | 3:55 PM EDT | EF1 | Taylor, WV | 4.4 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| July 8 | 6:15 PM EDT | EF2 | Sullivan, PA | 6.7 | 500 | $105,000 | ||
| July 8 | 6:48 PM EDT | EF1 | Lewis, NY | 12.3 | 300 | $250,000 | ||
| July 8 | 7:00 PM EDT | EF0 | Luzerne, PA | 0.9 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| July 8 | 7:02 PM EDT | EF2 | Madison, NY | 2.5 | 235 | 4 | $600,000 | |
| July 8 | 7:05 PM EDT | EF1 | Susquehanna, PA | 1.4 | 150 | $100,000 | ||
| July 8 | 7:25 PM EDT | EF1 | Oneida, NY | 1.3 | 65 | $110,000 | ||
| July 8 | 8:40 PM EDT | EF0 | Warren, NY | 1.1 | 100 |
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.