Middle Village, NY 125mph Downburst/Tornado: September 16th, 2010 [HD]

[@TropmetStormChasing]

Absolutely AMAZING storm, Scott!!! Those winds and the resulting impact are just incredible, especially for New York! I'm glad you and Cecelia were OK... the video is awesome!!!

[@heelsfantim]

Awesome video!!! So many people tend to ignore severe thunderstorm warnings and this was a case of a really really bad one!! It looked like you'll had gone through a hurricane!!

[@Rockesb888]

great vid, I've probably watched all hundred or so vids of this storm on KZbin, I'm obsessed ha. I saw the devastation visiting forest hills the next day, crazy stuff.

[@hasanaasim6873]

i am honestly telling you " its the best weather video on youtube" no exaggeration!!!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

There are many many amazing weather videos here on youtube, but I do thank you for your comment, and I'm happy to hear you enjoyed my video! Thanks for watching!

[@hasanaasim6873]

Scott McPartland - Extreme Weather Photography yes there are many amazing weather videos but this one has a great beginning.

[@darrylwoodbury]

"Why, why? We can't get slushies anymore, this is terrible!" Lol, that had me dying!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

One of my favorite lines ever!! LOL! I didn't even notice he said that until I reviewed the video later that evening. I was completely tuned into shooting footage at the time.

[@Invisobel]

I heard that and I knew I'd find it as the top comment. :D

[@yankeesman14]

I remember this day well. I just missed getting hit by the tornado that landed in Flushing by about 5 minutes. When I got back home to Brooklyn, I started hearing rumors about tornadoes hitting NYC. I saw the news and how people said that there was a tornado in Brooklyn, one in Queens, and this downburst that you recorded here. The next day, I went out and looked at the damage in your area and in Flushing, and I'll never forget how those areas looked. To this day, if you were to go on Jewel Avenue from Forest Hills to Flushing, you can see trees that were damaged from the tornado that went through there.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

+yankeesman14 Yes absolutely! So many trees in my neighborhood that I remember playing on when I was a kid are now gone.

[@ChrisZennNYC]

Katrina was very devastating without a doubt. I was born and raised in NYC and no one would have EVER expected such a storm as what was delivered last week. I truly appreciate Torvidstock for sharing, because I was luckily in Long Island (south shore) when it occurred and once I returned that evening at 9:15pm, I couldn't comprehend the impact of th storms once I arrived to Juniper Valley & 69th st--the path of the storm that destroyed your area of video too! thanks (again), C~

[@MPhill1973]

This is some insane footage. I got hit with that storm driving home from work, but nothing like that. Looks like all the wind went through your area and we just got the rain. Glad everyone is okay. Best part of the video was the little kid, "Why? Why? I can't get slushies anymore. This is terrible." Kids are awesome.

[@inking3123]

3:52 that siren and the kid get's me every time! LOL!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Glad you liked the video! Yes, this was one of the worst storms to hit my area of Queens, NY since August 1985! For many parts of the country this would have been considered a typical severe storm, but for us it was a lot more than that! Certainly one of my most intense videos, at least locally shot.

[@SevereWeatherBelgium]

JEZUS CHRIST!!! That's the most powerfull storm I've ever seen! 8O This is just UNBELIEVABLE :O Great footage, Scott!!! I'm glad you're still alive :D I was surprised in your previous video, when I saw only one big tree broken by a storm, but in this video there are hundreds of fallen trees! Just too insane for words :D Who in the hell can dislike this anyway? Like they have seen better storms than this xD I'm going to add this in my favorite list :P This should be your best video, right? :)

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Xplay3093 Glad to hear you weren't still out on the streets when the storm hit! Yes, definitely a rare event for us here in Queens, NY. Glad to hear you're ok and thanks for watching and commenting!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@LuvsTstormTapes That is pretty wild James! And yes, we did have some pretty serious storms back in July 1985, and late August 1985 which if memory serves me right, was the last really serious wind event directly related to a thunderstorm here in the Middle Village/Rego Park area. Looks like we're getting more lightning out side now. Gonna go and watch!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@hebneh You and I both! I thought for sure that there would be serious injuries and deaths and was very happy to hear there wasn't. Unfortunately there was one fatality near the Grand Central Parkway. A 30 year old woman was crushed by a falling tree in her car. This is horrible and my heart goes out to her family. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@pytlfamly]

Great video! My prayers for those affected by the storm - glad you stayed safe!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Eep2393 Were you up at Juniper Valley? Juniper was trashed!

[@beverlyrock9671]

This was on my One this day from FB. That was my Honda CRV that had the tree going through the Driver side window. I am always thankful I wasn't sitting in her at the time. Great footage.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Oh wow that was your vehicle!? Yikes! Yes, I live just a few blocks from you, right by the Mobile Station. Sorry about your CRV, but VERY glad that you were not in it at the time!

[@beverlyrock9671]

All is good, my Betsey was repaired and back on the road. I will never forget that day. When I first saw the car I was laughing and smiling. Someone said to me how can you be smiling if this is your car. I said "this is what insurance is for, and I wasn't in her"

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@GTAIVman Glad you enjoyed! It was a hell of a storm for us here in the NYC area. Thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Absolutely! I travel out to the midwest every spring and storms like this are common occurrences there. What is a garden variety storm there, makes headline news here haha! But remember, here in the northeast, and especially NYC, we just don't see these types of storms very often. So when they do happen, it's pretty insane and rare. Thanks for watching!

[@thelibrariansupermanny]

finally someone in New York that knows what they are talking about. most of the videos on youtube had people saying that a 50mph wind was a tornado.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@ChrisZennNYC You're right about that! No one here, not even me expected a storm like this! I've been filming storms here for 25 years and have an archive going back to the mid 80s....this storm tops all of them without a doubt! I'm just happy that there weren't more injuries or deaths. The clean up continues here....

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Arm4g3dd0nX Good question! The trees in my area are very old, but more importantly...many of them have hollow trunks, therefore there's not much holding them up to begin with and that was why several snapped midway up...as far as the ones that were torn out of the ground, I think the reasoning is somewhat the same, the trees are old and not super strong. Plus, some recent rainy days saturated the grounds as well. the buildings are much stronger and can withstand more. Thanks for watching!

[@billybassman21]

Nice storm. We had an event like this here in Houston the other day. An EF1 destroyed some apartment buildings a few miles from my house. I didn't get any damage, but the sky got very dark just like this with a bluish/greenish light. You knew it was going to be bad just by the look of the sky and the way the lightning was happening. Storms like this are rare here, but have been more common lately due to the building El Nino. Just last month I had hail damage.

[@TRRDroid]

Best footage I've seen of this storm ;) Thanks for uploading :)

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@rradford43 Thanks for watching! Yeah this storm was pretty insane, at least for us around here in the NYC area. But, out in the mid west this would be considered like a "warm up" storm lol. Glad to hear there wasn't a lot of damage from your storm a year back!

[@Finaltouchone1]

"We can't get slushies anymore." Love it.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@mtanyc Thanks!! Hopefully you'll be able to watch the HD version soon....give it another shot!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@michalkopanski I have a few friends in the Ridgewood area that got hit pretty hard too. It was literally like one block was ok, and another was trashed. My friend's family lives right by the Farmer's Oval Park...they had several trees down there. Thanks for watching and commenting! And yes, very glad to hear that everyone was ok :)

[@1weathernut]

WOW ! How big was the hail? That's an amazing storm and for it to hit you guys that hard in the month of September is unheard of isn't it? You did a great job of filming this. Thumbs Up from me ! Mike

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Only about 6 miles south of me here in Rego Park! Yep, I was in Howard Beach for Sandy too, you guys had some serious flooding there! Thanks so much for watching.

[@cameronwood3869]

This reminds me of the duracho that hit our house June 29 2012 in Virginia, we had 5 minutes of winds blowing at a sustained 85 mph and gusts up to 135 mph, there was so much damage, and my power was out for 5 days!

[@EphemeralProductions]

Oh you meant "derecho"! I got confused there for a second; thought "what's a duracho?" LOL

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@fadethetrade I absolutely do remember that!! That was the storm that got me into the weather to begin with :) We had a ton of damage here that day as well! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

I live right off Woodhaven, been here my whole life. It's a small world eh? Thanks so much for watching my video!

[@girlycajun]

Strong storm. Coming from New Orleans, this used to happen once a week back in the 1960's. This film makes me feel at home! I must be scary if you are in one of these storms for the first time.

[@Moonraker11]

Scott, some thoughts on the wind direction change. Since you were viewing to the northwest & the macroburst was traveling roughly west to east is it possible that the wind shift you are seeing is due to the outflow changing direction as a result of the macroburst moving from west to east?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@YoungGuyCologne I'm just going by the official NWS survey of this event. Wind speeds varied throughout the neighborhood, but their official assessment stated that the highest wind speeds were around 125mph. Thanks for watching :)

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@keithp74 I gotta say, you guys did a great job. I had my internet, tv and power back up within 24 hours. With 30000 folks in the NYC area without power, that was pretty impressive. Thanks for your efforts!! And thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@TRR2014 You're welcome! Really happy you enjoyed the video! This was a hell of a storm for my neighborhood of Queens NY. Been over 25 years since we had one similar to this which was back in August of 1985

[@Localonthe8s]

Great video quality. If you don't mind me asking, what camera model do you use?

[@ohwhererehwho]

I live in this neighborhood, too. The helicopters after-the-fact and the traffic tie-ups on Woodhaven Blvd and the heart-break of seeing all the big, old trees that appearred to have exploded - remains very disorienting today. We're not accustomed to such extreme weather...on such a narrow path. You captured many familiar locations I did not venture out to witness afterwards.

[@blyve]

Hey Scott I grew up in Far Rock. Was the main street Woodhaven Blvd. or Queens Blvd.?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

blyve Hi! That was Woodhaven Blvd I was on, right over by St. John's Cemetary. Thanks for watching!

[@blyve]

Scott McPartland I thought so. Crazy stuff! I seen some of your other videos, surprised I had never seen this one. I am going to subscribe.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

blyve Thanks!!!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Thanks for watching my video, glad you enjoyed it! Happy "almost" birthday!

[@Moonraker11]

So today represents the one-year anniversary of this event. I'm curious how much damage remains? I wonder if you could do a follow-up video to show any lasting damage or repairs?

[@Moonraker11]

@tornadovideostock Do you by chance know what the tops to the storms were and what the dBZ measurements were?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@decbaby1987 Of of course, lol! But, keep in mind...any tornado in NYC is pretty significant since we really don't get them that often at all around here :) The official rating on the Queens, NY tornado that day was an EF1. Thanks for watching

[@andrewmaddis30]

I live over 2 block from your house and was in the core of the macroburst and its 125mph winds.Scariest storm I have ever experienced in Queens in all my 45 years.I lost an 85 year old tree that was completly uprooted in front of my house.I cant even imagine what an EF-5 Tornado is like nor do I ever want to.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@stormtracker05 I remember where I was that day. Storm chasing in Iowa! But, nothing happened that day lol. Sounds like that was a hell of a storm that went through your area too that day! Thanks for watching and stay safe! All the best to you

[@Moonraker11]

Scott: I imagine this is a once-in-a-lifetime event there in New York! Starting right about the 1:00 minute mark it appears that is when the 125 mph winds take place. Did you consider bailing at any point?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@singingtiger36 I agree...another few seconds of those extreme winds and the damage would have been magnified much more! It's going to take a while to clean everything up, but all those trees around PS174 that I remember as a kid are no longer there. Very sad indeed, but I'm just happy that there weren't more injuries/deaths. And, I was very happy to hear that the PS174 school yard was empty when the storm hit! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@mattsmith4322]

3:55 NOOO! Not the slushies!!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

+Matt Smith My favorite line as well haha!

[@Moonraker11]

A couple of questions I've been meaning to ask is do you concur with the 125 mph wind gust estimate? Do you think they were higher, lower or about right? Also, how come there were no tornado sirens going off? Do you have tornado sirens in your area?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@MrQueenfan16 84th Place in Middle Village was insane! Almost every tree on that block came down. Glad to hear that your grandparents were ok though. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@StormChaserAaronRigsby]

Did this get confirmed as a tornado?

[@polygon-viewer]

All the damage seems to be in the same direction, indicating straight line winds. Is it possible that you had a strong rear flank downdraft/microburst?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@skamony2001 Yep, the official NWS assessment of this event was determined as a 125mph macroburst. The strongest winds were about 1/2 block to my south where a neighbor of mine recorded a peak wind gust of 122mph on his home anemometer. Thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Fleebob Here's what I find interesting though. The confirmed EF1 tornado touched down exactly 1.73 miles to the NE of my location. Even though what I experienced was officially designated a macroburst, there is still a very evident wind shift from the SSE to the NNW shown on my video. I am wondering if the tornadic circulation was consolidating right on top of me at the time. I may send this video to the NWS for them to take a look at :)

[@Moonraker11]

Wow, 3 year anniversary already... A couple of questions... 1) Do you consider this a 1 in 10 year event, 1 in 50 year event or 1 in 100+ year event? 2) What time of the day did this occur?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@10sup10 Actually, he was taking a picture of the damage himself, lol. I had got the chance to speak with him briefly and he was telling me how he was stuck in the middle of Woodhaven Blvd when all the trees starting flying across the street! He was actually in a pretty good mood all things considering :) Thanks for watching and commenting

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@TheJoozie Thanks for watching! It was definitely a local type storm. Areas just a 1/4 mile from my location hardly had any damage at all!

[@SPCcranford1056]

Amazing video! I live in Union County NJ and I remember this event!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

***** What a day this was! Thanks for watching!

[@Moonraker11]

Out of curiosity what were you referring to when you said, "That won't matter you can keep it for you?"

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

This was in NY LOL. The peak winds were about 1/2 block from my location, where the garage collapsed and just east of there on Woodhaven Blvd where the huge Oak trees were snapped and thrown into the Boulevard. Winds in excess of 100mph are needed for that kind of damage. Full NWS assessment was also done in my area and it was confirmed. The topper was a neighbor of mine in the worst hit area recorded a peak wind gust of 120mph with his Davis Weather Monitor II. Regardless, thanks for watching!

[@Pv488]

wow, i live in Richmond Hill area in queens and I had no idea Middle Village got clobbered this hard by that storm. Great video

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Yeah you're not too far from me at all! Yep, we got clobbered this day for sure. Thanks for watching!

[@Moonraker11]

So, it is the two-year anniversary of this event. Any damage remaining? Anything to report 2 years later?

[@AReallyAwesomeGuy117]

Wow, what a storm! I heard you say in a few comments that this was the worst storm to hit your neighborhood in over 25 years. If that's the case, then I bet you've been quite happy you caught it on high definition video. :P

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Yep, it was the worst storm for my immediate area since 1985. VERY glad I caught it as it happened. Thanks for watching!

[@wwcwcp09]

How many blocks did all this damage stretch on for?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@stormmoss Definitely some serious winds!! Thanks for watching Michael!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@zwaqster Thanks!! All the coverage has been on Brooklyn for the most part, what about us here in Queens!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@DivinityzBeAsT You're right about that! Especially those folks that had serious damage to their houses, and the folks that had their cars demolished. Thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@1weathernut Thanks Mike!! Regarding the hail, we had a few golf balls mixed in there! You are correct, the month of September is not exactly the severe weather month for us, lol. Glad you enjoyed the vid!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@VideographyOfStorms Thanks Nathan! And yes, it was strange hearing the helicopters flying around my own neighborhood, and the ambulances and firetrucks were pretty much non stop for 3 days! Actually, they're still around the area now as I type! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@Moonraker11]

Scott, did you by chance lose power during this event like so many others did?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@cantbreal4ever Thanks for watching! But actually, they were very much hurricane force gusts. My neighbors anemometer registered a peak wind gust of 122 mph, and the official survey from the NWS determined that the peak winds in the worst hit areas (which were about a block from my house) were 125mph. The extreme winds didn't last long, but they were intense! Either way, you're definitely right, impressive for NYC! Thanks again for watching!

[@Arm4g3dd0nX]

How is it possible that the tornado ripped trees out of the ground (by pushing them over) but didn't knock down more than a little bit of a couple buildings?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@flopppy Yikes!! That really does suck! But thank god the pilots didn't try landing in that! Holy crap that would have been a bad call for sure! Glad to hear that you made it in safe. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@heatherstub]

I love your channel. I wonder where you are now. Did you catch any of the severe flooding that impacted Louisiana last week? Also, I don't know if you pray or not, but we really need some serious rain right now in Atlanta, Georgia. We're in a drout that's impacting the air quality, and I dread having to use a mask to breathe.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Thanks so much Heather! Really happy to hear you've enjoyed my channel. Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to watch. Right now I'm back in NYC for the time being, but will be heading down to do more storm photography in South Florida in about 2 weeks! Looking forward to that. I'll also be posting a video by this weekend featuring all the tornadoes I documented on this years storm chase trip to the Plains. Basically a tornado 2016 highlights video. Thanks again!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@mypuss77 Yep, I head to tornado alley every spring and have witnessed many storms in that part of the country. The official NWS survey labeled this event a 125mph macroburst, granted the strongest of the winds only lasted about 20 seconds, but that's definitely up there in the hurricane force category. One look at all the damage tells the story :) Thanks for watching!

[@Moonraker11]

@tornadovideostock: I couldn't agree more! With just a bit more than 1700 views as of this morning my guess is a lot of people haven't seen this video including probably the NWS. I think you're instincts right at about 1:25 are spot on. You've documented enough weather events where I think you identified tornadic conditions. I still can't believe you were able to keep the lens dry!

[@TheCreativeMind]

I remember looking out the front porch thinking this storm is gonna be bad. I went in, took a whiz and came back out (hearing nothing while peeing) looked out the front windows and saw debris flying down the road. I thought "when did all this start when i was in the bathroom for 10 seconds. Storm didnt look that close."

[@Moonraker11]

I meant to ask how big was that hail stone that fell at the beginning of the video?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

There was a tornadic circulation taking shape right on top of my neighborhood and the NWS confirmed an EF1 tornado touchdown just 1 mile to my northeast. The circulation was taking shape on top of me, and the tornado fully touched down about 30 seconds later.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@thewidowsson1 You are right about that! I've been to Kansas many times and have chased storms out there for 12 years now. I've seen over 20 midwest tornadoes and they are much worse for sure. Attica, KS May 12th 2004 and Haskell County, KS June 14th, 2009 come to mind. Love Manhattan, KS too....been there many times. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@grvolans Thanks! Yeah this is pretty much like a run of the mill storm for you guys there, lol. I travel out to the plains every year to chase myself, but for around here in the NYC area it was quite a rare event. Thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Gorilla6602 Wow, sounds like you guys had a bit of a scare there! Glad to hear everyone came out ok. Thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Fleebob Yep, I think you are right about that. I never really thought about bailing since everything happened so quickly. I must have filmed over 1000 storms from my neighborhood since 1985 and all of them for the most part have been run of the mill storms. Some more intense than others of course. But I was never expecting something like this that's for sure. It hit so fast there wasn't any time to think, and then the next thing you knew...it was over with! Thanks for watching and commenting!!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

By midwest standards this was a run of the mill storm, but for our neck of the woods it was news worthy! Been waiting for a storm like this in my neighborhood for over 20 years. Thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@GTAIVman Long Island eh? Awesome! Hey, quick heads up....it's still a long ways out there but there are some indications in the models of a Christmas Day snow storm. Keep an eye on the forecast!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

LOL it's almost impossible to keep the camera lens free of all rain drops when it's raining, especially in strong winds. But, thanks for watching regardless.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@BarometerBob It was insane!! We'll be cleaning up for weeks! Glad you all enjoyed the video

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

About a 10 block stretch saw the worst of the damage from this, and the path was about 5 miles long. Thanks for watching

[@Moonraker11]

What kind of equipment are you using for your video?

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Haha yeah it was a very intense storm for NYC. Other parts of the country would probably laugh at this storm, but for us it was really bad. We did have a bit of damage to the roof, but thankfully nothing too serious. Thanks for watching!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@rone100theone That sounds about right actually! Insane storm, never seen anything like it here in New York City! Thanks for watching!!

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Apolyion Oh wow! That Adirondack blow down sounded insane! But yes, thankfully no injuries is right! Thanks for watching the video and commenting. The neighborhood is pretty much all cleaned up now. Even Juniper Valley has been mostly cleaned up :)

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

Ha ha well I certainly can't blame you there! That is the right thing to do. Thank you so much for taking the time to watch!

[@rexrex118]

awesome Video and I lived in New York all my life Jamacia Queens. Im living in Florida now since 2000 and I been through a Hurricane in 2005, I dont want to wish that to anyone that experience, its awful. but wat i see in the video is Phenomenal,wow. hope all is well and u guys had another Tornado on Saturday this year wow.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@suffern2 Not all the time. When chasing storms in the mid west the green sky can be indicative of large hail, or extremely heavy rains. One things for sure though, it usually is the sign of a very intense storm regardless. But, since documenting severe weather is what I do, I'm usually the one going outside instead of inside. Thanks for watching.

[@ScottMcPartlandNYC]

@Fleebob Yep, exactly one year ago today this was. Only a few signs still left from the storm. A bent street sign on my block, other than that...a whole lot of missing trees

[@skamony2001]

This is amazing,was it really 125mph wind?coz I remember that day I was in the bus going back home,couldn't feel how strong was the wind,they said the wind gusted to 70mph in Brooklyn.