EF1 tornado, Ludingtonville to Putnam Lake, New York, May 15, 2018

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

May 15, 2018

Touchdown

4:32 PM EDT (20:32 UTC)

Lifted

4:34 PM EDT (20:34 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

2.9 miles (4.7 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Putnam County

Touchdown point

41.493, -73.585

Lift-off point

41.459, -73.553

Record number

1805151432-01

An approaching cold front triggered numerous severe thunderstorms over southeastern New York. These storms produced 3 tornadoes in the Lower Hudson Valley, as well as microbursts and macroburts.

Based on a National Weather Service storm survey, done in|conjunction with the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency |Services, is been determined that an EF2 tornado with estimated |peak winds of 115 mph moved through Kent, New York. The tornado|originated near apartments at 1213 New York Route 52. It continued|down NY State Route 52, damaging some roofs in the strip mall at |the intersection of Route 52 and Farmers Mill Road, where it also|knocked down portions of the parapet above the Dunkin Donuts, and|snapped and uprooted some trees. The tornado lifted near 52 Bowen|Road in Kent. The most extensive damage was along Schuykill |Court, where dozens of large trees were uprooted and snapped, with|a convergent pattern to most of the fallen trees. Based on this |damage, the tornado was classified as an EF2, with estimated |maximum winds of around 115 mph.

Based on a National Weather Service storm survey, done in|conjunction with the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services,|is been determined that an EF1 tornado with estimated peak winds |of 100 mph moved along a discontinuous path through Patterson, New|York. The tornado originated along NY State Route 22, north of |the intersection with Haviland Hollow Road, near the Watchtower |Educational Center. The tornado then tracked along East Branch|Road, turned left toward Putnam Lake, then lifted near the |intersection of East Branch Road and Fairfield Drive. The storm |snapped multiple trees along its path, not all of it continuous. |The most extensive damage occurred in the general vicinity of 706|East Branch Road, where multiple trees were uprooted and snapped,|lying in a convergent pattern, and where leaves were splattered on|three sides of the house. Based on this information, the tornado|was classified as an EF1 with estimated maximum winds of 100 mph.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:46 UTC and running to 21:37 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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.

Danbury Municipal (DXR), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:30 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 2018 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

11 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.