Estimated Damage:  $1,000,000 Tornado in Wyoming county                                   ~$1,000,000 Damage to cherry crop in                                                        Niagara and Orleans counties Strength: F2 on the Fujita Scale: 113-127 mph winds. Considerable damage. Roofs torn from frame houses; mobile homes demolished;  large trees snapped or uprooted; light objects become projectiles Path Length: ~15 miles Path Width:  ~250 yards Time Frame: 5:30 - 7:00PM

During the late afternoon and early evening of Friday, June 2 1998 a tornado touched down in the rural farmlands of Wyoming county, about 20 miles southeast of Buffalo.  This was the second time in three days that a major severe weather outbreak occurred in Western New York. 

The tornado actually had its roots earlier that afternoon, well back to the west in Southern Ontario, Canada.  During mid-afternoon a severe thunderstorm cell moved east along the north shore of Lake Erie and dropped short-lived tornadoes near Norwich and Dunnville, Ontario.  The cell seemed to disorganize a bit as it crossed the eastern tip of Lake Erie and encountered the southwest lake breeze of the relatively cool lake waters.  No tornadoes were sighted as the storm crossed Buffalo and its suburbs but strong winds and  hail occurred.  The hail caused extensive damage to the cherry crop in Niagara and Orleans counties. As the storm proceeded to the east of Buffalo however, it produced the Wyoming county tornado. 

An F2 scale tornado raced across the countryside and tore a path of destruction about 15 miles long.   Numerous structures were damaged and several were completely destroyed.  The tornado passed just south of the village of Orangeville, narrowly missed the center of Warsaw, the county seat, and just glazed the southern end of the village of  Perry.

 This was a rather slow moving tornado and was observed by many eyewitnesses.  Several people reported seeing multiple vortices.  An amateur video as well as an aerial damage survey taken by NWS meteorologists reinforced the existence of multiple vortices.  Remarkably, no injuries or deaths resulted from the tornado, especially in light of the extensive damage that many structures incurred.

For all full review of the weather system that produced the storm as well as the radar signatures, damage path and other photographs of the damage scenes, check out the links on the left hand side of this page.