Tornadoes · United States · New York · 2021

EF1 tornado, Mabbettsville to Lithgow, New York, November 12, 2021

From Mabbettsville to Lithgow, this EF1 tornado ran 2.4 miles across Dutchess County on November 12, 2021, touching down at 11:12 AM EST and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $17,000 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
November 12, 2021
Touchdown
11:12 AM EST (16:12 UTC)
Lifted
11:16 AM EST (16:16 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
2.4 miles (3.9 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$17,000
County
Dutchess County
Touchdown point
41.766, -73.664
Lift-off point
41.789, -73.628
Record number
2111121012-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A couple of isolated thunderstorms along a cold front brought heavy rainfall, isolated flooding, and a tornado to parts of eastern New York on November 12, 2021.

Tornado touched down on November 12, 2021 just southwest of Killearn Road in the town of Washington around 1115 AM EST. The tornado traveled northeast for 2.5 miles, ending just northeast of Butts Hollow Road. The tornado caused damage to numerous trees along its path. A number of homes and cars were damaged by falling trees. The tornado destroyed one shed at a farm near the intersection of Route 343 and Little Rest Road.

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.

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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:42 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

4.2 hours before the tornado, 103 km from the path. November 12, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2021-11-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -79719, lifted condensation level 607 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2021-11-12The 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 600 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 63 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79719 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
600 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
766 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Albany, NY (KALY), 00:00Z

7.8 hours after it, 103 km from the path. November 13, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albany, NY at 00:00Z on 2021-11-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -3517, lifted condensation level 1179 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°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 2021-11-13The 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 -71 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 91 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3517 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1179 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
91 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Poughkeepsie (POU), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
14:15 UTC160° 16 kt241011.2-RA
14:20 UTC170° 10 kt1011.2HZ
14:25 UTC170° 13 kt1011.2HZ
14:30 UTC150° 16 kt1010.8-RA
14:35 UTC150° 17 kt231010.8RA
14:40 UTC160° 15 kt1010.8RA
14:45 UTC160° 10 kt1010.8-RA
14:50 UTC150° 11 kt211010.5-RA
14:53 UTC6459160° 12 kt221010.5-RA
14:55 UTC160° 11 kt1010.5-RA
15:00 UTC160° 9 kt1010.5-RA
15:05 UTC 13 kt1010.2-RA BR
15:10 UTC160° 8 kt1010.2RA BR
15:13 UTC6460160° 10 kt171010.2-RA BR
15:15 UTC150° 10 kt161010.2-RA BR
15:20 UTC170° 9 kt151010.2-RA BR
15:23 UTC6460160° 9 kt201009.8RA BR
15:25 UTC160° 9 kt151009.8-RA BR
15:29 UTC6460170° 10 kt181009.5-RA BR
15:30 UTC160° 9 kt1009.5RA BR
15:35 UTC170° 5 kt1009.1RA BR
15:40 UTC170° 5 kt1009.1-RA BR
15:44 UTC6360 6 kt1009.1RA BR
15:45 UTC160° 7 kt1009.1RA BR
15:50 UTC150° 8 kt1008.8RA BR
15:53 UTC6461170° 10 kt151008.8RA BR
15:55 UTC 11 kt241009.8+RA BR
15:59 UTC6360250° 15 kt331010.5+RA FG
16:00 UTC250° 13 kt1010.5+RA FG
16:05 UTC 11 kt1010.8RA FG
16:06 UTC6057220° 10 kt1010.8RA FG
16:10 UTC220° 8 kt1010.8+RA BR
16:14 UTC6057220° 8 kt1010.8RA BR
16:15 UTC220° 7 kt1010.8RA BR
16:20 UTC190° 2 kt1010.8+RA BR
16:25 UTC170° 5 kt1010.8RA BR
16:30 UTC160° 4 kt1010.8-RA BR
16:32 UTC5958160° 6 kt1010.8-RA BR
16:35 UTC140° 4 kt1010.5-RA BR
16:40 UTC140° 4 kt1010.5RA BR
16:45 UTC160° 2 kt1010.5RA BR
16:50 UTC160° 2 kt1010.5-RA BR
16:53 UTC5957170° 3 kt1010.5-RA BR
16:55 UTC180° 2 kt1010.5-RA BR
17:00 UTC180° 2 kt1010.5-RA
17:05 UTC180° 4 kt1010.2-RA
17:10 UTC160° 2 kt1010.2-RA
17:15 UTC180° 5 kt1010.2-RA
17:20 UTC190° 4 kt1010.2-RA BR
17:25 UTC200° 5 kt1010.5RA BR
17:30 UTC190° 5 kt1010.2RA BR
17:35 UTC190° 2 kt1010.2RA BR
17:40 UTC200° 2 kt1010.2-RA BR
17:45 UTC180° 4 kt1010.2-RA BR
17:50 UTC190° 2 kt1010.2-RA BR
17:53 UTC5957 4 kt1010.2-RA BR
17:55 UTC190° 5 kt1010.2-RA
18:00 UTC190° 5 kt1009.8-RA
18:05 UTC200° 2 kt1009.8
18:10 UTC210° 2 kt1010.2

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

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:12 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
15:30 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG2 Ese MillbrookDutchess, NYA TREE WAS DOWNED ONTO A HOUSE ON ROUTE 343
15:30 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG2 Ese MillbrookDutchess, NYNY 343 WAS CLOSED AT LITTLE REST ROAD DUE TO A DOWNED TREE AND WIRES
15:56 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG1 E BrewsterPutnam, NYDOWNED TREE ON NY-22, RIGHT LANE BLOCKED ON TURK HILL RD.
16:15 UTCTORNADO2 Se MillbrookDutchess, NYTHE ALBANY NWS SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH WINDS ESTIMATED AT 90 MPH NEAR MILLBROOK IN THE TOWN OF WASHINGTON ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2021.
16:58 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.5OlivebridgeUlster, NYWEATHERNET6

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

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.