Ten years ago, another EF2 tornado hit central New York, killing four in Madison County

The area’s deadliest tornado on record ripped through Smithfield in Madison County a decade ago, killing three adults, a baby and a dog along its devastating 2.5 mile path.

That tornado, which struck on July 8, 2014, was categorized as an EF2 tornado, just like the tornado that devastated Rome on Tuesday.

And like the Rome tornado, the Smithfield tornado’s winds reached 135 miles per hour at their peak.

There were no deaths in Rome on Tuesday, but 82-year-old Robert Popple died outside his home in Canastota , also on Tuesday, in what National Weather Service officials determined on Thursday was a tornado.

The tornado's designation has not yet been released.

The National Weather Service also conducted a storm survey Thursday in Schuyler County, but that storm was determined to be a microburst, not a tornado.

More on the Smithfield tornado

The Smithfield tornado, which touched down just outside the hamlet of Peterboro, cut a path as wide as 235 yards for 2.5 miles. A farm owned by the DeGroat family, on which several family members lived in separate homes, was severely damaged.

Kimberly Hillard, 35, was at home on the farm with her four-month-old daughter Paris Newman when the tornado swept the structure away, killing mother and daughter.

Storm cleanup: Some roads reopened, power restored to many as Rome continues recovery after tornado

How to help: Community Foundation establishes fund to aid Rome in aftermath of tornado

What happened: Major storm, possible tornado, leaves Rome tattered; thousands left without power

Also on the farm, Hillard’s great aunt Virginia Warner, 70, died when the tornado swept her trailer away.

The tornado then damaged, but spared another home in which a father and his sons sought cover under the stairs before ripping a house on Northrup Road off its foundation, setting it down 200 yards away on top of another home, which was empty. But the resident of the first home, Arnie Allen, 53, was killed along with his dog Misty.

Tornado classifications

EF2 tornadoes are classified by the National Weather Service as having winds between 111 and 135 miles per hour. Most tornadoes in Central New York have been classified as EF0 —with winds between 65 and 85 miles per hour — or EF1 — with winds between 86 and 110 miles per hour.

Tornadoes can be far more devastating, though, with three more categories not seen in Central New York:

• EF3: Winds of 136 to 165 miles per hour.

• EF4: Winds of 166 to 200 miles per hour.

• EF5: Winds of more than 200 miles per hour.

The 17-county Central New York area covered by the National Weather Service’s Binghamton office has experienced two more EF2 tornadoes since 2010, according to NWS records:

An EF2 tornado swept through 9.95 miles of Roscoe and Rockland in Sullivan County on April 22 of last year. The tornado touched down for 22 minutes with winds reaching speeds of up to 115 miles per hour, causing severe damage to a farm, including to historic barns, and collapsing a 180-foot truss tower.

On April 28, 2011, an EF2 tornado with wind speeds up to 115 miles per hour touched down near Pharsalia in Chenango County. Along its 8-mile path, the tornado snapped or uprooted hundreds of large trees, lifted and demolished a mobile home, demolished a two-story barn and sucked the water out of a small pond.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Ten years ago, another EF2 tornado hit central New York, killing four in Madison County