A tornado touched down on July 29 in the hamlet of South Brookfield in Madison County, just 15 miles southeast of Hamilton, home to Colgate University, at 1:54 p.m., according to a National Weather Service Damage Survey out of the Binghamton Field Office.
The EF-0 tornado formed from winds blowing at about 70 mph, according to NWS-BFO Meteorologist Brian Greenblatt.
The tiny twister made landfall on Beaver Creek Road. Before lifting off at Morgan Road with a maximum width of 50 yards, it traveled less than a mile for approximately 2 minutes.
No injuries and only “minor” damage to trees and some non-residential structures were reported.
“It was a very quick, very weak tornado,” said Greenblatt, “about as weak as tornadoes get.”
The tornado’s path
The July 29 spinning storm traveled southward along Beaver Creek Road, 2,000 feet from the intersection with Lamb Road. It traversed one private residential property before crossing the road, and over a pond.
The last damage observed by NWS-BFO was at South Brookfield Memorial Park Cemetery before the cone then lifted up just across Morgan Road at 1:56 p.m., after traveling .87 miles.
Details of damage in its path
According to the NWS-BFO Damage Survey, “the first observed damage was on the east side of (Beaver Creek) Road, where there were broken small tree limbs and branches.”
An uprooted hardwood tree was observed on the west side of the road in a converging direction to the damage on the opposite side.
Other damage was observed at a resident’s property on the west side of Beaver Creek Road, where “a couple of sheds/small storage buildings were “tipped over” and some damage was done to a sawmill.
Debris was described as “spread out” and Greenblatt said no damage to the residence itself was observed.
Tree damage along the road on the tornado’s southward path, including along the banks of the pond it crossed, were described as “minor.”
“A few large tree limbs were snapped off of softwood trees” at South Brookfield Memorial Park Cemetery.
According to Greenblatt, there was no damage to headstones or gravesites themselves that surveyors could see, but he recommended those wanting more specific information should contact the cemetery’s management for further detail.
Tornadoes in the Mohawk Valley, New York State in 2026
According to Greenblatt, the July 29 twister is the only one confirmed to have touched down in the Mohawk Valley so far this year considering the region to encompass Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties – which is considered below average – while a total of 13 twisters have been confirmed so far this year in New York State, an above average number of whirlwinds.
“Quite a bit above average,” Greenblatt added.
“Of the 13 tornados in New York State this year,” clarified Greenblatt, “seven of them were in the counties we cover.”
The seven tornadoes documented by the NWS Binghamton Field Office include the July 29 event in Madison County, with others confirmed in Cortland, Otsego, Delaware, and Chenango Counties.
Central NY State Tornados “rarely EF-3 or higher”
The July 29 tornado in South Brookfield was an EF-0, classified because its 70 mph winds fell within the range of 65-85 mph. Rankings rise to a high of EF-5, with windspeeds of 200 mph or higher.
Greenblatt assured that the majority of tornadoes in the upstate New York region are EF-0 or EF-1.
All tornados touching down in the state this season have been classified as EF-0 with the exception of one, an EF-1 that landed in Eastern Broome County in the Town of Sanford on July 18.
“Occasionally we get a 2,” said Greenblatt. “Very rarely do we get a 3 or higher in this area.”
The Mohawk Valley a ‘hotspot’ for tornadoes
While typically as weak as the July 29 twister, Greenblatt offered that several factors, specifying terrain and western “down breezes” from Lake Ontario, as well as heatwaves followed by cold fronts, seem to spin a lot of tornadoes in Oneida County and the Mohawk Valley region.
“There’s not one particular factor, but we have noticed that Oneida County gets more tornadoes than most parts of our area,” said Greenblatt, confirming again they are usually an EF-0-1.
“The Mohawk Valley tends to be one of our hotspots for tornadoes,” said Greenblatt. “But not this year … so far.”
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Confirmed tornado touches down July 29 in Madison County
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
