The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed on Wednesday that four tornadoes resulted from Monday night’s storms, with the latest spotted in Vernon, Oneida County.
Notably, an EF-3 tornado, a classification seldom seen in New York, struck Lewis County, covering a 16-mile distance.
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The EF-3 tornado exhibited wind speeds nearing 165 miles per hour, causing significant damage.
Mike Fries from the Buffalo National Weather Service pointed out the atypical damage, where trees were wholly defoliated, resembling “giant toothpicks sticking out from the sky.”
Unlike the usual trajectory of tornadoes, this one aligned with the wind flow rather than veering to the right.
Given the rare magnitude of this storm, the NWS will compile and scrutinize the collected data to ascertain if such events might become more frequent. In the coming days, the agency intends to employ polar orbiting satellite data to identify any additional tornadoes.
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