The town of Great Valley supervisor expressed relief Tuesday that there were no injuries as a result of the EF1 tornado — with estimated peak winds of 110 mph — that tore through a more than 2-mile section in 4 minutes Monday evening.

Dan Brown had spent Tuesday morning surveying damage in the Sugartown Road-Farm Market Road area as well as meeting with Chris Baker, director of the Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services. Experts with the National Weather Service’s Buffalo office investigated the damage — one house had its roof ripped off as the occupants were in their upstairs bedroom — and confirmed it was consistent with an EF1 tornado.

According to the NWS, the Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies EF1 tornadoes as having 86 to 110 mph winds. The highest, most destructive rating is an EF5, with winds reaching 200 mph or more.

“During the event, radar signatures indicated debris from the storm had lofted into the atmosphere,” a preliminary report from the NWS stated. “This allowed for radar confirmation of a tornado.”

Damage from the tornado generally followed Sugartown Road and Forks Creek. The initial touchdown was at 5:37 p.m. and the first damage occurred in an area between U.S. Route 219 and Farm Market Road, and continued northeast for approximately 2.4 miles, the NWS reported. The swath was about 600 yards wide and the tornado dissipated at 5:41 p.m.

Initial damage from the storm included some hardwood trees north of Route 98 and some facade damage to homes immediately south of 98.

Additional damage near the initial touchdown point included the loss of the roof of a garage. As the tornado continued northeast, damage quickly became more significant. Several homes, garages and structures near the intersection of Sugartown Road with Farm Market Road, Haines Hollow Road and Bonnie Way either had the full loss of the structure, loss of significant roofing material or the loss of some of the walls in the upper portion of the structure.

More modern construction fared substantially better than the majority of the structures in this area, the NWS reported. Additionally, trees on the entire hillside north of the intersection were sheared off mid-trunk for hundreds of yards uphill from the structures.

The tornado damage continued northeast in a clearly-defined path across McGuan Road, with  sheared tree trunks and sporadic structural damage to a few structures along the way. Tree damage became less severe after this point with intermittent tree damage continuing along the path until the tornado dissipated near Forks Creek in the town of Humphrey.

Brown said it was miraculous that residents in the home where the roof was torn off were not injured.

“It’s just amazing that they’re OK,” he said. “The roof was just lifted right off the house. And there were some nearby barns and outbuildings that were just destroyed. … And there was a lot of valuable timber damage in the path (of the tornado). People don’t always think of the loss that can represent in terms of value for a property owner.”

There were also reports of a delivery truck being overturned in the area struck by the tornado.

Brown said he was also amazed at how quickly National Grid crews responded to the area — he said 11 crews reached the Sugartown Road area within an hour of the tornado and many homes in the area had power restored before nightfall.

He said a bit more than 50 homes and properties were still without power as of Tuesday morning, but all power was restored before noon.

“A lot of credit goes to National Grid,” Brown said. “They had this thing cleaned up so fast.”

The National Weather Service extended its thanks to the county’s Office of Emergency Services and the Sheriff`s Office for their assistance with Tuesday’s survey of the tornado’s path.

Monday’s confirmed tornado might be the first in Cattaraugus County since July 24, 2010, when the NWS reported that three  tornadoes touched down — in the towns of Randolph, Carrollton and Allegany. At the time, residents in a number of neighborhoods in Allegany and Carrollton had to clean up damage from the storms that left trees and branches on homes, garages and vehicles.

There were no injuries.

In the spring and summer of 2024, New York state overall set a record for confirmed tornadoes in a single year after a twister touched down in Buffalo on Aug. 5. The state’s Weather Risk Communication Center at the time reported the new record of 26, surpassing the previous high of 25 in 1992.

In Western New York, tornadoes were also confirmed July 10 in Eden and West Falls in Erie County, Forestville in Chautauqua County and the town of Darien in Genesee County. In all, 32 tornadoes were recorded in New York as the state built on its record.