EF1 tornado, Yates and Schuyler counties, New York, June 18, 2026

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, as surveyed

EF1, preliminary

Date

June 18, 2026

Touchdown

10:55 AM EDT (14:55 UTC)

Lifted

10:57 AM EDT (14:57 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

2.7 miles (4.3 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Yates and Schuyler counties

Touchdown point

42.468, -76.931

Lift-off point

42.476, -76.880

Highest wind the damage implies

90 mph

Surveyed by

NWS BGM

The office's name for it

Yates Tornado

Survey last edited

June 22, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

An EF1 Tornado hit Rock Stream, NY, crossed Seneca Lake and hit lakeshore residence south of Hector, NY during late morning on June 18, 2026. Though there was pockets of minor tree damage from the storm itself, tornadic damage started around Reading Road at 1045 AM. This tornado strengthened to as much as 90 mph from Old Lake Road to State Route 14, as rotation tightened with the storm quickly moving at 50 mph from higher elevations into the Seneca Lake basin. Numerous trees were uprooted in a convergent chaotic fashion, and around 40 vineyard posts were snapped. Twigs and branches were impaled into the ground as missiles in portions of the vineyard, and shingles were found more than a quarter mile from their source. A garage outbuilding collapsed, with some metal roof peelback and siding damage also noted on the residence with small branches squeezing into gaps. After crossing State Route 14 with a continued corridor of uprooted trees, the tornado crossed Seneca Lake around 1050 AM. Significant damage was observed near the lake at the end of Wickham Rd. A large tree branch was impaled into a house and several trees and numerous large branches were downed.

Written by NWS BGM in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

16 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BGM, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 90 mph.

• About 40 vineyard posts snapped, vines all leaning east on south side of path.
• Black locust, large, uprooted.
• Shingle lifted from structure more than quarter mile away
• Branch missiles impaled into field

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

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.

Penn Yan (PEO), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:57 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in New YorkEvery tornado in New York since 1950Warnings in force in New York nowThe forecast where you are

50 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.