The National Weather Service has confirmed that a weak tornado touched down in Canandaigua on Monday.
The Weather Service said the tornado, which hit trees and other structures, was the lowest strength — an EF-0, with an estimated peak wind speed of 75 mph.
It had a path that was about 75 yards wide and seven-tenths of a mile long.
Meteorologist Aaron Reynolds with the National Weather Service said a survey team went out to Canandaigua on Tuesday and saw damage consistent with a twister.
“According to the damage and what we saw, some of the structural damage and also the tree damage, it looked like it was a very weak tornado that was just a little bit north of the shoreline there,” Reynolds said.
And it wasn’t just that small tornado that took out trees and damaged houses. There was also a relatively brief but powerful severe thunderstorm in that area that had a peak wind estimated at 95 mph.
Work continued Tuesday to clean up the damage, which City Manager John Goodwin included some downed trees in Kershaw Park.
“We’ve got our DPW crews down there, cleaning up the trees, and then New York state and the Town of Canandaigua and some surrounding communities have been wonderful in offering their assistance and we’ll take them up on that,” said Goodwin, who noted that there was also damage along Eastern Boulevard (Routes 5 & 20).
The National Weather Service said that its survey team saw damage along the north shore of Canandaigua Lake from Kershaw Park through a development immediately east of the park and into the Canandaigua Country Club. The Weather Service said the storm caused "impressive hardwood and tree damage," which included multiple instances of trunks being snapped and trees being uprooted.
Additionally, there was damage to several residences in the area including to shingles and siding.
Caroline Hamelin was driving with her family on Routes 5 & 20 on Monday when they started getting weather alerts on their phones.
She had her three kids in the car with her, and they were a little concerned as the skies darkened and the rain and wind came in.
“They were shaken up, especially when you're driving and you know, we're used to hearing the alerts on the radio, but the Emergency Alert came in on my phone and my husband's phone,” Hamelin said. “So to hear that all at the same time with the rain and the darkness, they were scared, but we told them you know, we're OK, we’re going to make it.”
Hamelin and her family came through the storm just fine, and there are no reports of any weather-related injuries.
There was some damage to cars and houses from large hail that was part of storm weather on Monday, mainly in parts of Ontario County, including in the Victor and Farmington areas.
Roseland Waterpark was closed on Tuesday due to access issues resulting from storm damage, but it plans to reopen on Wednesday.
Due to Monday’s severe storms and damage in Canandaigua, Rochester Gas & Electric was asking some customers to reduce their usage on Tuesday evening while crews work to make the necessary repairs.
