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.
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
- 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.
- 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
Albany, NY (KALY), 00:00Z
7.8 hours after it, 103 km from the path. November 13, 2021.
- 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
The surface observations
Poughkeepsie (POU), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:15 UTC | 160° 16 kt | 24 | 1011.2 | -RA | ||
| 14:20 UTC | 170° 10 kt | 1011.2 | HZ | |||
| 14:25 UTC | 170° 13 kt | 1011.2 | HZ | |||
| 14:30 UTC | 150° 16 kt | 1010.8 | -RA | |||
| 14:35 UTC | 150° 17 kt | 23 | 1010.8 | RA | ||
| 14:40 UTC | 160° 15 kt | 1010.8 | RA | |||
| 14:45 UTC | 160° 10 kt | 1010.8 | -RA | |||
| 14:50 UTC | 150° 11 kt | 21 | 1010.5 | -RA | ||
| 14:53 UTC | 64 | 59 | 160° 12 kt | 22 | 1010.5 | -RA |
| 14:55 UTC | 160° 11 kt | 1010.5 | -RA | |||
| 15:00 UTC | 160° 9 kt | 1010.5 | -RA | |||
| 15:05 UTC | 13 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |||
| 15:10 UTC | 160° 8 kt | 1010.2 | RA BR | |||
| 15:13 UTC | 64 | 60 | 160° 10 kt | 17 | 1010.2 | -RA BR |
| 15:15 UTC | 150° 10 kt | 16 | 1010.2 | -RA BR | ||
| 15:20 UTC | 170° 9 kt | 15 | 1010.2 | -RA BR | ||
| 15:23 UTC | 64 | 60 | 160° 9 kt | 20 | 1009.8 | RA BR |
| 15:25 UTC | 160° 9 kt | 15 | 1009.8 | -RA BR | ||
| 15:29 UTC | 64 | 60 | 170° 10 kt | 18 | 1009.5 | -RA BR |
| 15:30 UTC | 160° 9 kt | 1009.5 | RA BR | |||
| 15:35 UTC | 170° 5 kt | 1009.1 | RA BR | |||
| 15:40 UTC | 170° 5 kt | 1009.1 | -RA BR | |||
| 15:44 UTC | 63 | 60 | 6 kt | 1009.1 | RA BR | |
| 15:45 UTC | 160° 7 kt | 1009.1 | RA BR | |||
| 15:50 UTC | 150° 8 kt | 1008.8 | RA BR | |||
| 15:53 UTC | 64 | 61 | 170° 10 kt | 15 | 1008.8 | RA BR |
| 15:55 UTC | 11 kt | 24 | 1009.8 | +RA BR | ||
| 15:59 UTC | 63 | 60 | 250° 15 kt | 33 | 1010.5 | +RA FG |
| 16:00 UTC | 250° 13 kt | 1010.5 | +RA FG | |||
| 16:05 UTC | 11 kt | 1010.8 | RA FG | |||
| 16:06 UTC | 60 | 57 | 220° 10 kt | 1010.8 | RA FG | |
| 16:10 UTC | 220° 8 kt | 1010.8 | +RA BR | |||
| 16:14 UTC | 60 | 57 | 220° 8 kt | 1010.8 | RA BR | |
| 16:15 UTC | 220° 7 kt | 1010.8 | RA BR | |||
| 16:20 UTC | 190° 2 kt | 1010.8 | +RA BR | |||
| 16:25 UTC | 170° 5 kt | 1010.8 | RA BR | |||
| 16:30 UTC | 160° 4 kt | 1010.8 | -RA BR | |||
| 16:32 UTC | 59 | 58 | 160° 6 kt | 1010.8 | -RA BR | |
| 16:35 UTC | 140° 4 kt | 1010.5 | -RA BR | |||
| 16:40 UTC | 140° 4 kt | 1010.5 | RA BR | |||
| 16:45 UTC | 160° 2 kt | 1010.5 | RA BR | |||
| 16:50 UTC | 160° 2 kt | 1010.5 | -RA BR | |||
| 16:53 UTC | 59 | 57 | 170° 3 kt | 1010.5 | -RA BR | |
| 16:55 UTC | 180° 2 kt | 1010.5 | -RA BR | |||
| 17:00 UTC | 180° 2 kt | 1010.5 | -RA | |||
| 17:05 UTC | 180° 4 kt | 1010.2 | -RA | |||
| 17:10 UTC | 160° 2 kt | 1010.2 | -RA | |||
| 17:15 UTC | 180° 5 kt | 1010.2 | -RA | |||
| 17:20 UTC | 190° 4 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |||
| 17:25 UTC | 200° 5 kt | 1010.5 | RA BR | |||
| 17:30 UTC | 190° 5 kt | 1010.2 | RA BR | |||
| 17:35 UTC | 190° 2 kt | 1010.2 | RA BR | |||
| 17:40 UTC | 200° 2 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |||
| 17:45 UTC | 180° 4 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |||
| 17:50 UTC | 190° 2 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |||
| 17:53 UTC | 59 | 57 | 4 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |
| 17:55 UTC | 190° 5 kt | 1010.2 | -RA | |||
| 18:00 UTC | 190° 5 kt | 1009.8 | -RA | |||
| 18:05 UTC | 200° 2 kt | 1009.8 | ||||
| 18:10 UTC | 210° 2 kt | 1010.2 |
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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:30 UTC | NON-TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ese Millbrook | Dutchess, NY | A TREE WAS DOWNED ONTO A HOUSE ON ROUTE 343 |
| 15:30 UTC | NON-TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ese Millbrook | Dutchess, NY | NY 343 WAS CLOSED AT LITTLE REST ROAD DUE TO A DOWNED TREE AND WIRES |
| 15:56 UTC | NON-TSTM WND DMG | 1 E Brewster | Putnam, NY | DOWNED TREE ON NY-22, RIGHT LANE BLOCKED ON TURK HILL RD. |
| 16:15 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Se Millbrook | Dutchess, NY | THE 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 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.5 | Olivebridge | Ulster, NY | WEATHERNET6 |
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.