454
Recorded events
5
Direct deaths
22
Direct injuries
$95.1M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Onondaga County, New York: 454 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 78. That places the county #150 nationally and #13 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Onondaga County, New York: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Onondaga County is the 2020s, when 154 of the county's 454 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Onondaga County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 59.7% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #150 for this hazard and #13 within New York, putting it in the 95.3 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Onondaga County with 159 recorded events, while Feb is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 1998 | BALDWINSVILLE | 0 | 3 | 7 | $90.0M |
| May 29, 1998 | CICERO | 50 | 1 | 1 | $40K |
| Jul 4, 1999 | OTISCO | 0 | 1 | 0 | $50K |
| Jul 4, 1999 | SYRACUSE | 0 | 0 | 11 | $500K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | WESTVALE | 55 | 0 | 1 | $110K |
| Jul 6, 1995 | Countywide | 0 | 0 | 1 | $15K |
| Jul 9, 1994 | Syracuse | 0 | 0 | 1 | $5K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 24, 2025 | TULLY | 50 | $3K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | CICERO | 55 | $5K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | MATTYDALE | 50 | $5K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | WESTVALE | 55 | $110K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | CAMILLUS | 50 | $1K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | JORDAN ANTHONSON ARP | 50 | $1K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | JORDAN | 50 | $500 |
| Aug 24, 2025 | JACKS REEF | 50 | $1K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | JORDAN | 60 | $100K |
| Aug 24, 2025 | JORDAN | 50 | $3K |
Other hazards here
More from Onondaga County
- Hail 203
- Flash Flood 61
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A line of thunderstorms became severe as it crossed northern sections of the county close to 1:30 pm EDT. Numerous trees and wires were downed across northern and eastern sections of the Syracuse metropolitan area. One man in Cicero was injured when he was shocked from falling wires. In Syracuse, another man was struck and killed by a large tree limb on the corner of Congress and Holland Streets.
Thunderstorms winds downed numerous trees and wires from Skaneateles through Marcellus, Marietta, and Amber to Otisco. The worst damage was in the village of Skaneateles. In the village an antique boat show was wrapping up. The wind overturned many sailboats on the lake. West Lake Road was hard hit. The wind sheared off the roof of an apartment building on Jordan Road in Skaneateles. A state of emergency was declared in the village and town of Skaneateles. Trees fell on a few houses. More than 3,000 customers lost electricity.
Numerous trees and powerlines blown down throughout the county with power outages reported in Syracuse, Liverpool, Lakeport, Manlius, Fayetteville and Tully. A few homes received minor damage from fallen trees and limbs in several of these towns.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Onondaga County, New York?
454 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Onondaga County between 1956 and 2025, causing 5 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Onondaga County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Onondaga County measured 78.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Onondaga County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Onondaga County, New York.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-york/onondaga-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.