ROCHESTER, N.Y. – We were very fortunate in the immediate Rochester area during Monday’s thunderstorms. While we did experience some flooding, any tree or powerline damage was isolated and minimal.

That was not the case, however, in the small community of Ellicottville in Cattaraugus County—located about 80 miles southwest of Rochester. Social media video from the area show significant structural damage, including what appears to be the second-floor roof of a building completely torn off. There is also noticeable damage to trees and powerlines in the area.

The National Weather Service will be sending a survey team to assess the damage and determine whether it was caused by a tornado or by straight-line winds. While tornadoes tend to get the headlines, it is worth noting that straight-line winds can exceed 100 miles per hour and cause comparable destruction. The key difference lies in the damage pattern. Straight-line winds knock down trees and debris in a single direction, while tornadoes produce more chaotic damage patterns, often with debris scattered in multiple directions due to their rotating vortices.

The NWS team will also measure factors like wind speeds, the width and length of the damage path, and other indicators to officially classify the event. Based on the extent of visible damage, my early estimate is that, if confirmed as a tornado, this could be an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which corresponds to considerable damage.

Late word from the National Weather Service has stated that this was in fact a confirmed tornado with an estimated peak wind speed of 110 miles per hour. This means it had a rating of EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.