Jefferson, NY Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Jefferson is lower than New York average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Jefferson is about the same as New York average and is much lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #1337
| Jefferson, NY | 0.06 |
| New York | 0.58 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Jefferson, NY | 0.0000 |
| New York | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #903
| Jefferson, NY | 47.93 |
| New York | 49.25 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 3,258 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Jefferson, NY were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 1 | Cold: | 38 | Dense Fog: | 0 | Drought: | 6 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 428 | Hail: | 658 | Heat: | 9 | Heavy Snow: | 144 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 8 | Landslide: | 1 | Strong Wind: | 59 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 1,702 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 1 | Winter Storm: | 64 | Winter Weather: | 27 |
| Other: | 112 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Jefferson, NY.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Jefferson, NY.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Jefferson, NY.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 15 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Jefferson, NY.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 15.1 | 1986-10-01 | 2 | 42°17'N / 74°34'W | 0.10 Mile | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Delaware | |
| 19.2 | 1989-07-10 | 4 | 42°47'N / 74°27'W | 42°34'N / 74°12'W | 18.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 20 | 25.0M | 0 | Schoharie |
| 20.8 | 1998-05-31 | 3 | 42°32'N / 75°06'W | 42°35'N / 74°56'W | 5.00 Miles | 800 Yards | 0 | 3 | 800K | 0 | Otsego |
| Brief Description: A supercell thunderstorm became tornadic as it crossed southern portions of the county around 6:30 pm EDT. The storm cut nearly a 5 mile path from Laurens eastward into Milford township. This twister incurred major damage to heavily forested areas. Thousands of trees were laid out with the width of damage varying up to nearly a half mile in spots. Trees were blown over in a chaotic and almost circular pattern as viewed from aerial damage surveys. Several homes within the path of the twister also sustained heavy damage. In the town of Laurens, a well built home was nearly destroyed with only the back and a portion of the side wall left in tact. Many local roads were closed for up to 3 days as fallen trees made them completely impassable. This included portions of routes 12 and 44. The cell appeared to weaken as it approached Interstate 88 just east of Milford. County emergency officials estimated damage totals in excess of three quarters of a million dollars from this twister. Most of it stemmed from deforestation, repair of utility poles, and other repairs to homes and public structures. Three minor injuries were sustained from falling tree limbs and flying debris. An intensifying storm system moved across upstate New York and into southern Quebec early in the morning on the 31st. This system dragged a warm front northeastward across central New York. A southerly flow of warm, moist, and unstable air quickly developed. This set the stage for severe weather that afternoon and evening as a cold front and strong upper air disturbance approached. From early in the afternoon until the evening hours, central New York was under siege from severe thunderstorms, including several tornadic supercells. In all, six separate tornadoes touched down on this day in central New York. The most devastating twister cut a discontinuous sixty plus mile track from southeastern Tioga county across southern Broome county and into Delaware county where it finally lifted back into the cloud base. This tornado alone damaged or destroyed more than 30 homes and injured nearly 20 people. Very fortunately, no fatalities occurred. Another violent tornado ripped through southern sections of Otsego county between Laurens and Milford. Thousands of trees were snapped off or uprooted with large sections of forest completely taken out. Several residences were leveled and many roads were impassable for days due to the fallen debris. The damage toll from this day's tornadoes ran into the millions. Several strong bow echo complexes also affected central New York. From southern Chenango county through the lower half of Otsego county, one such storm took out hundreds of trees and inflicted considerable structural damage in and around Oneonta. One man was killed in Oneonta when hit by a falling tree limb. Throughout Onondaga county, wind gusts estimated at 90 to 100 mph caused widespread damage early in the evening between 6:00 and 6:30 pm EDT. Two large transmission towers near Nedrow were toppled from the winds and many buildings had blown out windows and/or roof damage. Hail as large as 3 to 4 inches in diameter accompanied some of the tornadic supercells across New York's southern tier; smashing windows, severely denting cars, and causing crop losses. New York State Electric and Gas Company estimated that hundreds of thousands of customers were without power during the height of the storms late that afternoon and evening. Some of the more remote locations did not have power restored for the better part of a week. | |||||||||||
| 22.3 | 1989-07-10 | 4 | 42°50'N / 74°32'W | 42°47'N / 74°27'W | 6.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Montgomery |
| 22.9 | 1976-06-16 | 2 | 42°41'N / 75°01'W | 42°41'N / 74°58'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Otsego | ||
| 24.2 | 1989-07-10 | 4 | 42°34'N / 74°12'W | 42°24'N / 74°05'W | 13.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Albany |
| 29.4 | 1989-07-10 | 4 | 42°24'N / 74°05'W | 42°23'N / 74°02'W | 5.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Greene |
| 40.8 | 1974-06-16 | 3 | 42°15'N / 73°50'W | 42°40'N / 73°48'W | 28.70 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Greene |
| 41.0 | 2003-07-21 | 2 | 42°12'N / 73°58'W | 42°13'N / 73°52'W | 1.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 7 | 1.0M | 0 | Greene |
| Brief Description: A large upper air trough dug across the western Great Lakes on Monday, July 21. At the surface, a deep low pressure area moved across the eastern Great Lakes, driving a warm front across eastern New York and adjacent New England. The air became very unstable in the warm air mass behind the front. The combination of the unstable air and strong wind shear aloft, produced the most significant severe outbreak of the season across the region, and the largest tornado outbreak since May 31, 1998. The first line of thunderstorms worked across the region during the afternoon hours. These produced spotty wind damage, mainly downed trees and wires across portions of Albany, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Saratoga and Schoharie Counties. Torrential rains falling in a very short interval of time caused flash flooding in the city of Schenectady. North Jay Street suddenly flooded and a woman had to be rescued from her car as it became submerged in about three feet of moving water. An even stronger line of storms moved east from central New York, into eastern New York during the evening hours. This squall line produced wind damage of its own, with spotty downed trees and wires across portions of Albany and Washington counties. Wind damage was more concentrated in Ulster and Dutchess counties. In Saugherties, Ulster County, downed trees flattened three cars. In Dutchess County, a large swath of trees were downed in the town of East Fishkill and in the town of Tivoli, a state of emergency was declared. One cell broke loose from the line, and became a supercell as it reached the Mid Hudson Valley. This storm ultimately spawned a long lived significant tornado. The twister initially touched down in southeastern Greene County, and produced a discontinous path of 17 miles in Greene County, 12.2 miles in northwestern Columbia County and 4.8 miles in southern Rensselaer County. The tornada left a swath of destruction including hundreds, if not thousands of trees uprooted and snapped away, along with lots of power and telephone wires. Many roads in each of these counties were impassable due to debris. The first confirmed touchdown was in the town of Palenville, Greene County. The tornado was ranked as F1 with a 50 yard wide path and on the ground for a half mile. An unoccupied home had its siding ripped off. Several other homes were severely damaged including a trailor. The tornado next touched downed in the hamlet of Kiskatom, in the town of Catskill, where it increased to F2 intensity and cut a path 150 yards wide and over a mile long. Several homes were destroyed along with seven injuries right off Route 32 in the Brookside Camp Grounds. Four people were trapped inside one of the trailer homes. Another lady was trapped inside a mobile home as it was lifted into the air then smashed into the ground. The woman was badly bruised but survived the ordeal. The next touchdown was in Athens with a rating of F0, and the last touchdown in Greene County was in Coaxsackie where a manufactured home was hoisted off its foundation, and had insulation pasted to the siding on the downwind side, which is typical of F1 damage. The tornado ripped across Columbia County with two touchdowns confirmed in the towns of Kinderhook, the Newtown Hook section in the town of Stuyvesant and the town of Niverville. The touchdown at Kinderhook Lake the strongest, with a ranking of F2. A barn was completely destroyed and the unfortunate farmer stated that some of his haywagons ended up in Kinderhook Lake. A garage was completely leveled and a car was tossed onto the tops of a blown-down tree. Another building had its metal roof partially peeled back. In Niverville, 11 people were given shelter as they were afraid to stay in their damaged homes. Straight-line thunderstorms produced additional tree and wire damage in the towns of Chatham, Hudson and Valatia. A state of emergency was declared throughout Columbia County. There was one injury reported by the newspaper in that county. The only hail reported with these storm took place in Stockpart, where golf ball size stones where reported. A state of emergency was declared in all of Columbia County right after the tornado past on by. The supercell and resultant tornado next touched down in the town of Nassua in Rensselaer County, near Route 20 with a rating of F1. The average width of the twister was between 75 and 100 yards and a discontinous path length of more than four miles. More homes and a garage were severly damaged but no injuries were reported. The roof on the Agway was blown off and a gazebo landed across the state highway in a pile of splintered wood. The NWS Survey team noted that the twister had multiple vortices in this area. Additional straight line damage was also noted in the same town. The last touchdowns were in the town of Schaghticoke with an F1 rating. During the height of the storms, as many as 63,000 customers were reported to have lost power in eastern New York, nearly 7,000 of those in Greene County alone. Power restoration was not completed until the following Friday. | |||||||||||
| 42.3 | 1998-05-31 | 3 | 42°04'N / 75°26'W | 42°05'N / 75°00'W | 30.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 1.0M | 0 | Delaware |
| Brief Description: The same tornadic supercell that moved through southern portions of Broome county crossed into Delaware county in Deposit around 6:45 pm EDT. At that point, the tornado was still quite strong and maintained an intensity of category F3. Several more homes were severely damaged as the twister moved over route 8 and areas just west of Cannonsville Reservoir. Again, large swaths of trees were cut down and hail larger than baseballs was observed. Once the cell passed on to the east across Tompkins and Colchester townships, it weakened as tornado intensity decreased to F1. Significant tree damage was seen in both ground and aerial damage surveys along hilltop areas just north and east of Cannonsville Reservoir. Hundreds of tree tops were estimated to be twisted off with several utility poles also taken out in these areas. Further east towards Downsville, tornado intensity fluctuated between F0 and F1 with most of the damage to trees along ridge tops. Fortunately, the twister skipped along sparsely populated areas for the most part. As a result, structural damage and injuries were kept to a minimum. Once the cell reached the eastern end of Pepacton Reservoir, it weakened further with the tornado apparently lifting back into the cloud base. Emergency management officials estimated damage totals approaching a million dollars. The majority of the damage occurred in Deposit. The town of Deposit was placed under a local state of emergency for several days with this area also eventually receiving federal aid. An intensifying storm system moved across upstate New York and into southern Quebec early in the morning on the 31st. This system dragged a warm front northeastward across central New York. A southerly flow of warm, moist, and unstable air quickly developed. This set the stage for severe weather that afternoon and evening as a cold front and strong upper air disturbance approached. From early in the afternoon until the evening hours, central New York was under siege from severe thunderstorms, including several tornadic supercells. In all, six separate tornadoes touched down on this day in central New York. The most devastating twister cut a discontinuous sixty plus mile track from southeastern Tioga county across southern Broome county and into Delaware county where it finally lifted back into the cloud base. This tornado alone damaged or destroyed more than 30 homes and injured nearly 20 people. Very fortunately, no fatalities occurred. Another violent tornado ripped through southern sections of Otsego county between Laurens and Milford. Thousands of trees were snapped off or uprooted with large sections of forest completely taken out. Several residences were leveled and many roads were impassable for days due to the fallen debris. The damage toll from this day's tornadoes ran into the millions. Several strong bow echo complexes also affected central New York. From southern Chenango county through the lower half of Otsego county, one such storm took out hundreds of trees and inflicted considerable structural damage in and around Oneonta. One man was killed in Oneonta when hit by a falling tree limb. Throughout Onondaga county, wind gusts estimated at 90 to 100 mph caused widespread damage early in the evening between 6:00 and 6:30 pm EDT. Two large transmission towers near Nedrow were toppled from the winds and many buildings had blown out windows and/or roof damage. Hail as large as 3 to 4 inches in diameter accompanied some of the tornadic supercells across New York's southern tier; smashing windows, severely denting cars, and causing crop losses. New York State Electric and Gas Company estimated that hundreds of thousands of customers were without power during the height of the storms late that afternoon and evening. Some of the more remote locations did not have power restored for the better part of a week. | |||||||||||
| 46.4 | 1974-06-16 | 3 | 42°40'N / 73°48'W | 42°51'N / 73°45'W | 12.70 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Albany |
| 47.2 | 2003-07-21 | 2 | 42°24'N / 73°42'W | 42°24'N / 73°42'W | 1.30 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 1 | 200K | 0 | Columbia |
| Brief Description: A large upper air trough dug across the western Great Lakes on Monday, July 21. At the surface, a deep low pressure area moved across the eastern Great Lakes, driving a warm front across eastern New York and adjacent New England. The air became very unstable in the warm air mass behind the front. The combination of the unstable air and strong wind shear aloft, produced the most significant severe outbreak of the season across the region, and the largest tornado outbreak since May 31, 1998. The first line of thunderstorms worked across the region during the afternoon hours. These produced spotty wind damage, mainly downed trees and wires across portions of Albany, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Saratoga and Schoharie Counties. Torrential rains falling in a very short interval of time caused flash flooding in the city of Schenectady. North Jay Street suddenly flooded and a woman had to be rescued from her car as it became submerged in about three feet of moving water. An even stronger line of storms moved east from central New York, into eastern New York during the evening hours. This squall line produced wind damage of its own, with spotty downed trees and wires across portions of Albany and Washington counties. Wind damage was more concentrated in Ulster and Dutchess counties. In Saugherties, Ulster County, downed trees flattened three cars. In Dutchess County, a large swath of trees were downed in the town of East Fishkill and in the town of Tivoli, a state of emergency was declared. One cell broke loose from the line, and became a supercell as it reached the Mid Hudson Valley. This storm ultimately spawned a long lived significant tornado. The twister initially touched down in southeastern Greene County, and produced a discontinous path of 17 miles in Greene County, 12.2 miles in northwestern Columbia County and 4.8 miles in southern Rensselaer County. The tornada left a swath of destruction including hundreds, if not thousands of trees uprooted and snapped away, along with lots of power and telephone wires. Many roads in each of these counties were impassable due to debris. The first confirmed touchdown was in the town of Palenville, Greene County. The tornado was ranked as F1 with a 50 yard wide path and on the ground for a half mile. An unoccupied home had its siding ripped off. Several other homes were severely damaged including a trailor. The tornado next touched downed in the hamlet of Kiskatom, in the town of Catskill, where it increased to F2 intensity and cut a path 150 yards wide and over a mile long. Several homes were destroyed along with seven injuries right off Route 32 in the Brookside Camp Grounds. Four people were trapped inside one of the trailer homes. Another lady was trapped inside a mobile home as it was lifted into the air then smashed into the ground. The woman was badly bruised but survived the ordeal. The next touchdown was in Athens with a rating of F0, and the last touchdown in Greene County was in Coaxsackie where a manufactured home was hoisted off its foundation, and had insulation pasted to the siding on the downwind side, which is typical of F1 damage. The tornado ripped across Columbia County with two touchdowns confirmed in the towns of Kinderhook, the Newtown Hook section in the town of Stuyvesant and the town of Niverville. The touchdown at Kinderhook Lake the strongest, with a ranking of F2. A barn was completely destroyed and the unfortunate farmer stated that some of his haywagons ended up in Kinderhook Lake. A garage was completely leveled and a car was tossed onto the tops of a blown-down tree. Another building had its metal roof partially peeled back. In Niverville, 11 people were given shelter as they were afraid to stay in their damaged homes. Straight-line thunderstorms produced additional tree and wire damage in the towns of Chatham, Hudson and Valatia. A state of emergency was declared throughout Columbia County. There was one injury reported by the newspaper in that county. The only hail reported with these storm took place in Stockpart, where golf ball size stones where reported. A state of emergency was declared in all of Columbia County right after the tornado past on by. The supercell and resultant tornado next touched down in the town of Nassua in Rensselaer County, near Route 20 with a rating of F1. The average width of the twister was between 75 and 100 yards and a discontinous path length of more than four miles. More homes and a garage were severly damaged but no injuries were reported. The roof on the Agway was blown off and a gazebo landed across the state highway in a pile of splintered wood. The NWS Survey team noted that the twister had multiple vortices in this area. Additional straight line damage was also noted in the same town. The last touchdowns were in the town of Schaghticoke with an F1 rating. During the height of the storms, as many as 63,000 customers were reported to have lost power in eastern New York, nearly 7,000 of those in Greene County alone. Power restoration was not completed until the following Friday. | |||||||||||
| 47.3 | 1961-05-09 | 2 | 41°48'N / 74°47'W | 41°50'N / 74°39'W | 6.80 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 4 | 2.5M | 0 | Sullivan |
| 48.0 | 1960-06-24 | 3 | 42°48'N / 73°53'W | 42°55'N / 73°44'W | 10.90 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 9 | 25.0M | 0 | Schenectady |
| 48.5 | 1974-06-16 | 3 | 42°51'N / 73°45'W | 42°55'N / 73°53'W | 7.70 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Saratoga |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.