Intense Severe Thunderstorm Strikes Tonawanda, NY.
A severe storm struck the City of Tonawanda on the afternoon of August 5th, 2024. Just three hours prior to this, a tornado struck downtown Buffalo, causing EF1 damage. In what was already a volatile environment, a thunderstorm rapidly exploded off of a lake breeze boundary. Within 15 minutes, it went from a weak little shower to a severe thunderstorm. In the video, you can hear me shout "GET INTO THE BASEMENT NOW." At this time, an area of strong rotation was detected on radar about 1 mile south of my location. This was the closest I've ever been to an area of rotation, let alone strong rotation. Thankfully, there was never a tornado confirmed, but this storm did cause some significant straight-line wind damage. About a half mile south of me, a building that was in the construction process at the time of the storm had half of its second story framing blown over by the winds. There were also several trees down across the City of Tonawanda as well. Based off of my own personal damage survey that I did after this storm, I came to a conclusion that strong RFD (Rear Flank Downdraft) winds estimated up to 90 MPH occurred with this storm. Thankfully, it didn't appear that any injuries or fatalities resulted from this storm.
Description added on February 10th, 2025 at 9:45 PM.