(WKBW-TV) BUFFALO, NY — The National Weather Service in Buffalo, NY confirmed on Saturday afternoon that yet another tornado touched down in New York state. This brings the count to 28 for this year.
On Friday evening, a Tornado Warning was issued for a severe thunderstorm that was crossing through central Allegany county at approximately 9:40 pm. The warning was prompted by classic rotation signatures associated with a tornado as indicated by doppler radar.
The tornado, an EF-1 on the enhanced Fujita scaled, touched down around three miles southeast of Friendship, NY. No injuries were reported,
A National Weather Service storm survey team was dispatched to evalute the damage associated with the thunderstorm that spawned the tornado. Here's some of what they found.
The storm started in the town of Wirt, about 5 miles south-southwest of Friendship at approximately 9:34 p.m. It's end location was about 3.5 miles southeast of Friendship, approximately 16 minutes later. The tornado had maximum winds around 100mph, was 200 yards wide, with a path length of 6 miles.
The survey confirmed extensive tree damage with several dozen hardwood and softwood trees snapped or uprooted along a concentrated path, including several large trees consistent with that of an EF-1 tornado.
The EF Scale is a scale used by meteorologists to determine the intensity of the winds associated with a tornado. Here are those categories: EF0.....65 to 85 mph EF1.....86 to 110 mph EF2.....111 to 135 mph EF3.....136 to 165 mph EF4.....166 to 200 mph EF5.....>200 mph
Further examination using satellite data may revise this initial report.
