The National Weather Service in Buffalo confirmed that an EF-2 tornado hit Thursday morning in Java, Wyoming County, not far from Letchworth State Park.
Meteorologists from the Weather Service said the tornado hit at 10:40 a.m., just south of Chaffee Road and Route 78, where a barn fell down and some trees were uprooted. The tornado moved to the east for about 15 minutes, going 10 miles to Gainesville, which was just west of Route 19.
About 500 yards wide, the tornado's path. The Weather Service says that the tornado had a peak wind speed of 115 mph. At the time the twister hit, Wyoming County was in the middle of a tornado warning.
Meteorologist David Zaff of the Weather Service said that crews quickly went to the scene to look at the damage and figure out how strong the tornado was on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which rates tornados based on how fast they are thought to be moving and how much damage they cause. Between EF-0 and EF-5, the scale shows how strong a tornado is. An EF-2 tornado is a strong one that has winds between 111 and 135 miles per hour and does a lot of damage.
Most New York tornadoes aren't very strong.
Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley are parts of the southern Plains and Deep South that get the most and strongest twisters on average. New York is a long way from both of these places.
On a scale that goes up to EF-5, more than 80% of the tornadoes that have been reported in New York are EF-0 or EF-1. Even though they can cause damage and sometimes kill people, they are considered weak because their winds are less than 110 mph.
Most storm tracks in New York are about 3 miles long.
A history of tornadoes: New York has had tornadoes since 1950
The most tornadoes happen in New York in July, when the weather is the hottest. August comes next, then May and June.
Recent tornadoes in the area around Rochester
The last tornado to hit the area was in April in Alexander, Genesee County. It was an EF-0 tornado that moved 3/4 of a mile. Before that, an EF-1 tornado hit Livingston County in September. It started in Conesus and ended in Springwater, traveling less than a mile and staying on the ground for three minutes. In July 2020, an EF-0 tornado hit Wheatland, stayed there for 4.2 miles, and then moved on to Scottsville.
Since 2007, the Buffalo office of the Weather Service has recorded seven EF-2 tornadoes. Thursday's was the seventh one.
The last EF-2 tornado in Western New York hit in Erie County in July 2017 and moved southwest for just over 6 miles, according to data from the Weather Service. The last EF-2 tornado happened in August 2011 in Savannah, Wayne County, which is closer to Rochester. It moved east for about four miles, breaking trees and power lines, ripping off the roofs of several homes, and destroying a barn. The tornado struck again in Cayuga County.
.jpeg)
