The National Weather Service in Binghamton tracked a “significant supercell,” or a strong thunderstorm with a heavy updraft, from Penn Yan to New Jersey, causing widespread damage on July 3 and 4.
Meteorologist Adam Gill confirmed a tornado warning near Ithaca on July 3, but no evidence of a tornado touchdown. The storm produced strong winds and extensive damage, including downed trees and wires, Gill said during a July 7 interview.
“That storm produced what’s called a rear flank downdraft, and in that rear flank downdraft, there is frequently 70 to 90 mile an hour winds, so there’s a pretty broad swath of damage, basically extending some the Ithaca all the way Southeast through Binghamton and then down into Northeast Pennsylvania,” he said.
Prior reports and communications sent to The Ithaca Journal from residents in Newfield, Enfield and Danby suggest localized damage and outages.
A video by Ithaca-area photographer Cindy Massicci, which has since been featured in ABC World News, showed the world a view of the skies in the Ithaca area on the evening of July 3.
More than 1,500 people in Ithaca were without power for the night of July 3 as upwards of 50 electrical poles were repaired throughout the region, according to NYSEG statements.
This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: July 3 Ithaca storm was a ‘significant supercell,’ meteorologists say