PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY
215 PM EDT FRI MAY 18 2007

...SUMMARY OF THE MAY 16, 2007 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...
...TORNADIC DAMAGE FOUND IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY CONNECTICUT...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN ADVANCE OF A COLD FRONT MOVED READILY ACROSS
THE NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN AREA ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.  THESE
STORMS PRODUCED SEVERE WINDS THAT RESULTED IN DAMAGE IN SEVERAL
AREAS OF THE TRI-STATE REGION.  THERE WERE TWO PARTICULAR CLUSTERS
OF STORMS THAT PRODUCED THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE DAMAGE.

THE FIRST CLUSTER OF STORMS MOVED FROM MORRIS COUNTY INTO PASSAIC
COUNTY NEW JERSEY JUST BEFORE 3 PM EDT.  THE STORMS, MOVING AT OVER
50 MPH, DOWNED NUMEROUS TREES AS OUTFLOW FROM THE DOWNDRAFT RACED TO
THE NORTHEAST.  AS THE OUTFLOW MOVED INTO NORTHEASTERN BERGEN
COUNTY, THE OUTFLOW BEGAN TO BOW OUT AND WIND SPEEDS INTENSIFIED IN
THE ALLENDALE AND RAMSEY AREAS OF BERGEN COUNTY.  TREE DAMAGE IN THE
FORM OF UPROOTED AND SNAPPED HARDWOOD TREES (OAKS) IN THIS REGION
WAS SIGNIFICANT.  THERE WAS A MODERATE AMOUNT OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE
TO STRUCTURES AND UTILITIES AS WELL. INVESTIGATION OF THE DAMAGE IN
THE REGION BY A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGIST CONCLUDED
THAT THIS DAMAGE WAS MOST LIKELY STRAIGHT LINE IN NATURE AND NOT
TORNADIC.  THUS, THE EVENT IS CLASSIFIED AS A MICROBURST.  IN THE
ALLENDALE AREA, WHERE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED, THE
MICROBURST DAMAGE HAD A NEARLY 2 MILE PATH THAT BEGAN ABOUT 100
YARDS IN WIDTH AND FANNED OUT TO NEARLY 300 YARDS AS IT EXTENDED
FROM A SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST DIRECTION. BASED ON THE DAMAGE
OBSERVED, THE ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS WERE 60 TO 80 MPH.

AS THE STORMS RACED OFF INTO ROCKLAND AND WESTCHESTER COUNTIES IN
SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK STATE, THE DAMAGE CONTINUED. THE BOW ECHO
INTENSIFIED AGAIN OVER NORTH CENTRAL WESTCHESTER COUNTY NORTH OF
INTERSTATE 287. THE LEADING EDGE AGAIN TOOK ON A BOW SHAPE AND
ANOTHER BOOKEND VORTEX FORMED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BOW.
INVESTIGATION OF THE DAMAGE BY ANOTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
METEOROLOGIST DETERMINED THAT THE DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED WAS ALSO THE
RESULT OF STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS WERE AT LEAST
70 MPH.  THE MOST WIDESPREAD DAMAGE OBSERVED WAS IN THE POUND RIDGE,
BEDFORD HILLS AND CHAPPAQUA.

THE STORMS CONTINUED EAST INTO FAIRFIELD COUNTY CONNECTICUT,
EVENTUALLY REACHING NORTHERN NEW LONDON COUNTY AROUND 5 PM. THE
RESULTANT DAMAGE WAS MOST EXTENSIVE ACROSS CENTRAL FAIRFIELD COUNTY
INCLUDING RIDGEFIELD AND REDDING WHERE NUMEROUS UPROOTED TREES AND
SNAPPED LIMBS WERE OBSERVED. THE DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH STRAIGHT
LINE WINDS ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN 50-70 MPH.

THE SAME CLUSTER OF STORMS PRODUCED A 4 TO 5 MILE PATH OF DAMAGE,
AVERAGING 100 YARDS IN WIDTH, BETWEEN BETHEL AND NEWTOWN IN
FAIRFIELD COUNTY. THIS AREA OF DAMAGE WAS DETERMINED RELATED TO
WINDS OF A TORNADIC NATURE. BASED ON EVALUATION OF THE DAMAGE TO
TREES AND STRUCTURES, THE TORNADO IS CLASSIFIED AS AN EF-1 ON THE
ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE, PLEASE VISIT:

HTTP://WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV/EFSCALE/

A SECOND CLUSTER OF STORMS OVER CENTRAL NEW JERSEY PRODUCED A GUST
FRONT (COOL OUTFLOW FROM THE THUNDERSTORMS) THAT RESULTED IN SEVERE
WIND GUSTS WITH RESULTING DAMAGE TO TREES AND PROPERTY.  THIS GUST
FRONT RACED OFF TO THE EAST AHEAD OF THE PARENT THUNDERSTORMS.  THE
GUST FRONT MOVED ACROSS UNION, ESSEX AND UNION COUNTIES IN NEW
JERSEY AS WELL AS STATEN ISLAND JUST BEFORE 4 PM.  WIND SPEEDS OF
50 TO 70 MPH RESULTED. THE GUST FRONT REACHED BROOKLYN, SOUTHERN
MANHATTAN AND THE ASTORIA AREA OF QUEENS JUST AFTER 4 PM.  THE
ROLLING NATURE OF THE LEADING EDGE OF THE GUST FRONT RESULTED IN AT
LEAST ONE GUSTNADO OVER BROOKLYN WHERE THE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH
OCCURRED.  A GUSTNADO IS A SMALL WHIRLWIND WHICH FORMS AS AN EDDY IN
THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOWS. THEY DO NOT CONNECT WITH THE PARENT
THUNDERSTORM CLOUD-BASE AND ARE NOT TORNADOES.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EXTENDS ITS APPRECIATION TO THE STATE,
COUNTY AND LOCAL OFFICIALS AS WELL AS THE SKYWARN VOLUNTEERS AND THE
MEDIA FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE AND COOPERATION DURING THE EVENT AND WITH
THE FOLLOW UP INVESTIGATION OF THE SEVERE WEATHER EVENT.

$$