Tornadoes · United States · New York

2017 tornadoes in New York

12 tornadoes touched down in New York in 2017, 64 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2016 2018 The whole country in 2017

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 mph
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.

Every tornado in New York in 2017

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	6:58 PM EDT	EF1	Dutchess	1.1	440

June 30 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 30	3:49 PM EDT	EF1	Fulton	0.3	50
June 30	4:45 PM EDT	EF0	Oneida	1.5	125	$20,000
June 30	5:28 PM EDT	EF1	Herkimer	0.6	150

July 20 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 20	12:30 PM EDT	EF2	Erie	6.1	700	$4,000
July 20	12:55 PM EDT	EF0	Erie	1.3	450	$100,000
July 20	1:29 PM EDT	EF0	Allegany	1.1	150	$25,000
July 20	1:45 PM EDT	EF1	Allegany	4.2	740	$250,000

August 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 4	2:50 PM EDT	Unrated	Saratoga	0.1	20

August 22 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 22	4:55 PM EDT	EF1	Madison	0.1	30			$10,000
August 22	5:25 PM EDT	EF0	Madison	0.4	150			$50,000

October 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 31	9:15 AM EDT	EF0	Erie	0.4	10			$4,000

Nearby

Every tornado in New York since 1950 Warnings in force in New York The live radar over New York

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.