BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-0 tornado with an estimated maximum wind speed of 75 MPH touched down in Machias on Wednesday.
According to the NWS, the tornado touched down at 8:13 p.m. and was on the ground for only about a minute. The path was 0.17 miles long and 55 yards wide.
This is the second tornado to touch down in Machias in less than a month.
On March 31, an EF-1 tornado with an estimated maximum wind speed of 107 mph touched down in Machias.
According to the NWS, the tornado touched down at 3:43 p.m. on March 31 two miles southwest of Machias and was on the ground for three minutes. The path was 1.5 miles long and 150 yards wide.
For residents like Walter Pixley, who has lived in the area for 60 years, the back-to-back storms have been unprecedented.
"Unbelievable," Pixley said. "Been here 60 years. Never seen anything like it. All my life I've been here all my life."
Pixley described the moment the latest storm moved through.
"I feel a pressure drop in my ears," he said. "Out of the window, I see water moving really hard towards the east. And the wind picked up."
When asked about two tornadoes striking the same area within weeks, Mike Fries, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said it feels unusual from a personal standpoint but not necessarily from a scientific one.
"We have had a little bit of an early start to our severe weather season this year, that's for sure," Fries said. "We're sitting in the middle of a week where it's been 70 degrees almost every day, which feels real nice in some regards, but this is the consequence that comes with it sometimes."
Julie Mapes Connor, whose property was damaged during the March 31 tornado, described the experience.
"I was getting ready to go to Bible study and eating my supper, and all of a sudden I heard 'bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang all over my home, on the glass windows, on the siding, and on the roof,'" Mapes Connor said. "It was hitting the tin."
She said large limbs were thrown around her property. After the storm stopped, she tried to go outside but was driven back by hail. When she finally went out, she found a limb across her driveway so large she could not move it.
WATCH: National Weather Service confirms second tornado in less than a month touched down in Machias
Mapes Connor said she was concerned when she learned more severe weather was coming through the area Wednesday night.
"I was concerned," she said. "I said, 'Oh Lord, please don't let it hit again.' I was concerned whether or not I would be safe in my home. I don't have a cellar, so I just go to a good area, but I just kept watch of it and listening to the thunder and lightning and hoping and praying that it wouldn't, and it didn't."
Robert Koon, Cattaraugus County EMS coordinator, said two significant wind events within weeks of each other are somewhat uncommon but not unheard of. He urged residents to sign up for emergency alerts through NY Alert, text Cattaraugus to 333-111, or purchase a NOAA weather radio.
"Be weather aware," Koon said. "Be prepared for rapidly changing weather conditions and have a plan. If you get that alert, what are you going to do? What's your plan? Have an emergency plan."
