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Severe Storms May 24th, 2004

F1 Tornado Eastern Broome County and Far Western Delaware County

An F1 tornado with maximum winds between 73 and 112 mph touched down near Sanford New York in eastern Broome County at 5:30 PM EDT. The tornado tracked east and lifted about 3 miles northeast of Deposit Map showing the tornado path. Click for a larger image. in Delaware County by 5:40 PM EDT. Click on the map to see the tornado path. The tornado had a 6 mile long path length and was about 100 yards wide. The tornado uprooted and snapped many trees along its path. The tornado demolished a trailer, damaged siding on a house and destroyed a barn. In addition to the damage associated with the tornado, there was a 5 mile wide swath of hail damage associated with this storm in and around Sanford and to the north and northeast of Sanford.

A tornado warning was in effect for east central Broome County and southern Delaware County from 5:22 PM EDT to 6:15 PM EDT.
Click on the images below to view more damage photos or loops of the radar data showing the severe thunderstorm that produced the tornado. Note: you will need a java enabled browser to view the loop.
Click to view damage photo from the F1 tornado.
F1 Tornado damage images
click for radar loop of reflectivity.
Radar Reflectivity Loop
click for radar loop of storm relative velocity.
Storm Relative Mean Velocity

Oneida County Severe Storms

The National Weather Service surveyed localized areas of wind damage that occurred with severe thunderstorms in Oneida County on Monday May 24. Scattered tree damage was found along a path from the eastern shore of Oneida Lake to the town of Remsen. The greatest amount of damage was found in the village of Westernville, and in a rural area about 5 miles northwest of Rome. In those two locations, it was determined that downburst winds, possibly reaching speeds of 100 mph, caused extensive damage to dozens of large trees.

In both cases, the damage swaths were approximately 30 yards wide and 80 yards long. The trees were snapped and knocked down in a straight-line to slightly divergent pattern in both locations, indicating that the damage was most likely done by downbursts of strong winds, but not by a tornado.

Several reports of funnel clouds were received in the area between 4:30 and 4:50 PM EDT. It is likely that the storms that produced these funnel clouds also produced the damaging straight line winds.
Click on the images below to view more damage photos or loops. Note: you will need a java enabled browser to view the loop.
Click for a Oneida County damage photos.
Damage in Oneida County
click for radar loop of reflectivity.
Radar Reflectivity Loop
click for radar loop of storm relative velocity.
Storm Relative Mean Velocity

Otsego County Severe Storms

Severe storms moved across parts of Otsego County producing damage. Tree damage and other evidence indicated wind from one direction, generally in the 50 to 70 mph range. There was extensive hail damage in some areas. Trees were stripped of leaves and ground cover flattened. 24 hours later, there was still hail in places on the ground (see damage photos on the right).
click for radar loop of storm relative velocity.
Damage from straight line winds. Click for more damage photos.
For a more in-depth look at the May 24th, 2004 severe weather event, read the case study on our Research page.


Heavy rainfall occurred across parts of Central New York on the 23rd and 24th >>Read More<<<

Questions or comments about this page? Send to Ron Murphy

Posted May 25, 2004