EF3 tornado, Braman Corners to Quaker Street, New York, May 22, 2014

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 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

May 22, 2014

Touchdown

3:33 PM EDT (19:33 UTC)

Lifted

3:55 PM EDT (19:55 UTC)

On the ground

22 minutes

Path length

6.8 miles (10.9 km)

Path width

440 yards (402 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Schenectady and Albany counties

Touchdown point

42.820, -74.190

Lift-off point

42.726, -74.149

Record number

1405221333-01

A potent shortwave trough was moving from the eastern Great Lakes towards upstate New York during the afternoon on Thursday, May 22nd. A complex frontal system was moving from west to east during the mid afternoon hours, with the triple point of where the occluded, cold and warm fronts meet situated over the Mohawk Valley. There was a significant gradient along the warm front, between warm and unstable air over the Mohawk Valley and cooler, more stable air over far eastern New York that originated off the western Atlantic Ocean.||As a result, a large supercell thunderstorm developed along this boundary over the southern Adirondacks and eastern Mohawk Valley and it quickly strengthened. It produced very large hail as large as 4 inches in diameter in the Amsterdam area. As this storm continued to strengthen even further, it moved south to southeast towards the Helderbergs and western parts of the Capital Region, where it produced a tornado. The tornado was on the ground for 7 miles and reached EF3 strength with maximum winds of 140 MPH, as it passed through the town of Duanesburg. The tornado dissipated once it reached western Albany County, and the more stable air in place allowed thunderstorms to weaken as they reached the Hudson Valley. Aside from one additional report of large hail in the mid-Hudson valley, no other thunderstorms reached severe levels and the threat for storms diminished by the evening with passage of the occluded boundary.

A severe thunderstorm produced a tornado near the intersection of State Route 30 and Churches Road in Duanesburg, producing damage to trees. The tornado continued in a south-southeast direction and caused damage to a roof at the corner of Hardin and Knight Roads in Duanesburg. At the corner of Hardin and Gross Roads, several trees were sheared off.||The tornado strengthened as it reached 1885 Mudge Road in Duanesburg. It caused damage to the roof of a home, where debris was wedged under the eaves of the house. Numerous trees were downed at this location as well. As the storm continued to near Old Dane Road, numerous trees were downed as well.||The tornado reached it's maximum strength at the intersection of US Route 20 and Mudge Road. A well-built house (one story ranch) built in 1973 was nearly destroyed, with most of the walls gone. The tornado was determined to be an EF3 strength at this point with maximum winds of 140 MPH. A tractor trailed was also blown over on Route 20 as a result of the tornado winds as well.||On nearby Cole Road, the tornado caused damage to an Ambulance Garage with damage to the roof and doors. A side wall of the building was completely blown out and a dumpster was tossed. Another house on Cole Road had siding shingles ripped off and windows blown out of the house as well. Numerous trees and power lines were downed as well.||The tornado crossed Interstate 88 in Princetown. Strong winds associated with the tornado caused two tractor trailer trucks to flip over on the highway. Trees along the highway were sheared off as well.||The tornado continued south and affected homes in Delanson. Shingles were blown off a house and damaged a greenhouse at 4155 Schoharie Turnpike and another home at Crow Hill Road had damage to siding and a garage, which was lifted off its foundation and collapsed.||The tornado weakened, but continued to move south towards the Albany County line.

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

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 16:42 UTC and running to 22:26 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. The outlook in force was issued at 16:09 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 Albany radar (KENX), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:33 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 2014 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

5 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.