NWS confirms another tornado touched down in upstate NY

Another July 16 tornado in New York was confirmed by the National Weather Service in Binghamton, bringing the record-breaking monthly total to 20.

The Weather Service survey confirmed Monday that an EF-1 tornado touched down near Lee Center in Oneida County. The twister reached an estimated peak wind of 95 mph and maximum width of 200 yards, traveling 6.5 miles.

The trail of damage from the tornado included a mobile home lifted from its blocks with much of its roof removed, the downing of multiple trees and broken branches impaled into the ground. The residents of the mobile home were in a vehicle that was briefly lifted by the twister, but no one was harmed.

The 10 tornadoes make it the third most active day for confirmed twisters in New York , trailing only May 31, 1998, and July 21, 2003.

July 2024 tornadoes in New York

Here is a list for the confirmed tornadoes for July 16:

• Oxbow Lake, Hamilton County – EF-1
• Wells, Hamilton County – EF-1
• Wilcox Lake Wild Forest, Hamilton County - EF-1
• Old Forge, Herkimer County - EF-1
• Ohio, Herkimer County - EF-1
• Canastota, Madison County – EF-1
• Rome, Oneida County – EF-2
• Lee, Oneida County - EF-1
• Edinburg, Saratoga County - EF-1
• Johnsburg, Warren County - EF-0

Confirmed tornadoes for July 15:

• Virgil, Cortland County - EF-0
• Canandaigua, Ontario County - EF-0
• Pavillion, Genesee County - EF-0

Confirmed tornadoes for July 10:

• Forestville, Chautauqua County - EF-1
• Eden, Erie County - EF-0
• West Falls, Erie County - EF-1
• Alexander, Genesee County - EF-0
• Redfield, Oswego County - EF-1
• Fair Haven, Wayne County - EF-Unknown
• Forestport, Oneida County - EF-0

The previous record for most tornadoes in July was 13, set in 1992. So far, 2024 stands alone in fourth place for the most annual tornadoes, trailing 1992 (25), 1998 (23) and 2011 (23).

Has this been a bad year for tornadoes?

Overall, the United States is well ahead of its historical average yet well behind 2011, which was an incredibly active year for tornadoes. Through July 22 in 2011, there were 1,975 tornadoes; the average is 1,006 from 2010 to 2023.

So far this year there have been 1,480 twisters nationwide, eclipsing the annual average since 2010 of 1,355 for the full year.

— Steve Howe covers weather, climate and lake issues for the Democrat and Chronicle. An RIT graduate, he returned to Rochester after working around the state and in Utah. He plans to see the new movie "Twisters." Have a favorite weather movie? Tell him at showe@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: NWS confirms another tornado touched down in upstate NY