May 15 2020 Severe Weather Event

Overview

On Friday May 15, 2020, an intense line of thunderstorms quickly developed near Lake Ontario and raced eastward in the NWS Albany, NY County Warning Area. A segment of particularly strong and long lasting thunderstorms impacted the region from just north of the Mohawk Valley in Herkimer County and raced into Saratoga and Washington counties and southern Vermont, producing damaging winds throughout its path. Notable areas of damage include a confirmed macroburst near Russia and Cold Brook, NY where wind estimates ranged from 80 to 100mph and an EF-1 tornado in Wilton, NY with numerous trees snapped or uprooted in Saratoga and Washington counties. A supercell that developed in the eastern Catskills produced a microburst in Cottekill, NY.

Tornado
Macroburst
Photos & Video
Radar
Storm Reports
Environment

Tornado:

Tornado - Wilton, NY
Saratoga County

Date	Fri May 15, 2020
Time (Local)	559-601 pm
EF Rating	EF1
Est. Peak Winds	85-90 mph
Path Length	1.8 miles
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A brief tornado hit the Wilton, New York area in Saratoga County during the evening of May 15, 2020. The tornado touched down near the intersection of Nichols Road and Woodard Road and tracked east for about two miles before lifting at the intersection of Wilton-Gansevoort Road and Blanchard Road. The path was nearly continuous with several softwood trees snapped and uprooted (some onto houses), and street signs blown down and displaced. Also, part of the sheeting of a warehouse roof was peeled off and landed on a van, and an empty trailer was blown on top of a van.

Track Map

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Macroburst:

Macroburst - Russia/Norway, NY
Herkimer County

Date	Fri May 15, 2020
Time (Local)	440-510 pm
Est. Peak Winds	80-100 mph
Path Length	25 miles
Max Width	10 miles
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A National Weather Service storm survey team, along with Emergency Management, determined that a macroburst impacted the areas of Russia, Norway and Ohio in central Herkimer County on May 15, 2020. This macroburst resulted in numerous large hardwood trees uprooted or snapped about a third to half way up along with powe rpoles snapped with significant power outages. Areas hardest hit were along Grant Road and Fisher Road. A large tree went through a small house on Fisher Road. A secondary area of damage was in the Adirondack Campground where an un-anchored trailer flipped and was dragged several feet to its resting place. Numerous hardwood trees were also observed to be uprooted or snapped about a third to half way up. All debris was pointed in an east-northeast direction. For reference... A macroburst is an outward burst of strong winds at or near the surface with horizontal dimensions larger that 4 km (2.5mi) and occurs when a strong downdraft reaches the surface. Macroburst winds usually begin over a smaller areas and then pread out over a wider area, sometimes producing damage similar to a tornado.

Track Map

Photos & Video

Storm Survey Pictures in Herkimer County, NY

Storm Survey Pictures in Saratoga and Washington Counties

Radar


Figure 1. Friday May 15, 2020 Radar Loop	Figure 2. KENX radar image valid at 2047Z (4:47 pm EDT) near the time of the Herkimer County macroburst showing 0.5 degree reflectivity (left) and base veocity (right). Line denotes cross section for Figs 3-4.	Figure 3. KENX radar image showing a cross section of reflectivity valid at 2047Z (4:47 pm).	Figure 4. KENX radar image showing a cross section of velocity valid at 2047Z (4:47 pm).


Figure 5. KENX radar image valid at 2159Z (5:59 pm EDT) near the time of the Wilton tornado showing 0.5 degree reflectivity (upper left), storm-relative velocity (upper right), normalized rotation (bottom left), and correlation coefficient (lower right).	Figure 6. As in Figure 5, but at 1.3 degrees.	Figure 7. As in Figure 5, but at 2202Z (6:02 pm EDT).	Figure 8. KENX radar image showing a cross section of reflectivity in the Wilton, NY storm valid at 2159Z (5:59 pm).