The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down in Olcott on Wednesday, Sept. 2, during a line of severe thunderstorms that swept across Western New York.
Olcott is a lakeside hamlet in Niagara County on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, about halfway between Rochester and Niagara Falls.
The tornado had estimated peak winds of 105 mph and traveled about 0.67 miles, according to a damage survey released Thursday by the NWS Buffalo office.
No injuries or fatalities were reported.
Tornado moved through Olcott and Krull Park
The tornado began around 6:07 p.m. near Olcott in northern Niagara County and lasted about a minute, according to the NWS.
A severe supercell thunderstorm that had produced a waterspout over Lake Ontario moved onshore near Olcott. The NWS said it could
not determine from the shoreline damage whether the waterspout itself moved onshore, but survey crews found clear evidence of a tornado about a block inland along Main Street.
The tornado moved south-southeast across the Great Lakes Seaway Trail and into the southern portion of Krull Park, producing additional tree damage along Althea Street.
Drone footage obtained by Niagara County Emergency Services showed large swirls in an open grassy area near the park entrance. The most significant damage occurred there, where a stand of mature pine trees was snapped and uprooted.
The tornado weakened as it moved southeast of the park and likely lifted just east of the area, the NWS said.
Storms brought widespread severe weather
The Olcott tornado was part of a broader severe weather outbreak across Western and Central New York on Wednesday.
The NWS had issued a tornado watch for 29 New York counties, including Niagara, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca and Wayne counties.
A tornado warning issued at 6:07 p.m. for northeastern Niagara County and western Orleans County reported a confirmed waterspout moving onshore near Newfane and warned of tornado and quarter-size hail. Olcott was among the communities in the warning area.
The NWS also warned of severe thunderstorms capable of producing wind gusts up to 70 mph and considerable tree damage as storms moved across the region.
The NWS said the Olcott survey remains preliminary and could be revised following final review and publication in its Storm Data records.
The Enhanced Fujita scale rates EF1 tornadoes as having estimated wind speeds from 86 to 110 mph.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: NWS confirms EF1 tornado in New York. See where it hit
