Event Summary

For the second time within four days violent weather hit sections of southeastern New York. The severe weather was caused by a squall line that formed along a zone where unseasonably warm air was being displaced by much colder air approaching from the west. An unseasonably warm airmass covered the eastern sections of the United States during the morning of the 16th. This warm air was being forced northward from the Gulf States by very strong southerly winds in excess of 50 knots. These winds produced considerable damage across extreme southeastern New York state. During the morning in Manhattan, the winds blew an I-beam off of a 21 story building, killing an elderly woman. Towards midday, a squall line produced a tornado in Peekskill. It was the first time a tornado had been observed in this region during the month of November.