July 16, 2024 Upstate New York Tornado Outbreak: An Analysis

On July 16th, 2024, a decayed derecho moved into Upstate New York. This same storm system produced a record breaking 32 tornadoes in the Chicago area before producing 10 more in New York. Of these 10 tornadoes, there was one high-end EF-2, eight EF-1s, and one EF-0. The strongest tornado was the EF-2 near Rome, which moved through at 3:25PM. This tornado had an estimated peak wind speed of 135 mph, causing major damage to two churches, ripping the roofs off of several buildings, and uprooting hundreds of trees. There was one fatality associated with this outbreak, which occurred as a result of the EF-1 around 3:00PM in Madison County.

This study aims to analyze various meteorological parameters contributing to this outbreak, including surface maps, upper air analysis, CAPE, hodographs, Skew-T’s, and Radar data, etc. These data will be used to reconstruct the storm’s development and progression, offering insights into the conditions that led to the tornadoes. By understanding the specific conditions that caused this event, this research seeks to improve forecasting for similar setups in the future.