Palermo, NY -- National Weather Service experts have confirmed what Bruce and Margaret Mildrim already knew: That was a tornado that touched down on their Jackson Road farm Monday night. After a survey team visit Tuesday morning and a look at radar data, the weather service said Tuesday afternoon that the tornado that struck around 8:25 p.m. Monday was classified...
Palermo, NY -- National Weather Service experts have confirmed what Bruce and Margaret Mildrim already knew: That was a tornado that touched down on their Jackson Road farm Monday night.
After a survey team visit Tuesday morning and a look at radar data, the weather service said Tuesday afternoon that the tornado that struck around 8:25 p.m. Monday was classified as a zero on the Enhanced Fujita scale, the lowest ranking for a tornado on the scale.
Maximum winds were estimated at 70 mph to 80 mph, said meteorologist David Thomas at the weather service office in Buffalo.
The path of the tornado was 150 yards wide at the widest and ran along the ground for 1.6 miles, he said.
On Sunday, an EF1 tornado touched down in Allegany County, the weather service declared Monday.
Tornadoes are rare, but not unheard of in Central New York. Last May, a EF1 tornado damaged trees and a roof in Georgetown in Madison County.
According to National Weather Service records, the last tornado in Oswego County touched down in 1996, injuring three people.
Monday's tornado knocked down two small farm buildings and tore the roof off a two-year-old hay barn, but didn't injure anyone and left 19 head of Scottish Highland cattle unharmed, though a little skittish, according to Margaret Mildrim.
See previous stories about Monday's tornado here, here and here.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.