A slow-moving weather system triggered severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings across parts of central New York Monday, while heavy rain caused severe flooding across parts of the area late Monday into Tuesday.
The National Weather Service will send a team to investigate whether a tornado touched down Monday afternoon in parts of Cortland and Oneida Counties. The weather service also said a tornado may have touched down in Lewis County.
The severe storms also brought very heavy rain, which has caused flooding in yards, basements and on roads. The towns of Van Buren and Clay were the hardest hit, with radar estimates showing more than 6 inches of rain in the last 24 hours.
A number of roads remain closed in Van Buren and in the Village of Baldwinsville. In addition, there are road closures across other parts of central New York due to flooding:
- Route 690 has reopened between the Van Buren Road and Downer Street exits, but the right lane of the southbound lanes is still closed.
- Route 48 between Van Buren Rd. and Mildred Ave. is closed in both directions.
- Interstate 81 is closed in both directions between Exit 30 (Cicero) and Exit 31 (Brewerton).
- On the NYS Thruway, the right lane is blocked on I-90 westbound after Exit 39 due to flooding.
The New York Department of Transportation announced State Route 104, just east of the Village of Mexico, in Oswego County will remain closed to traffic until August 18. A full culvert replacement is being done due to recent heavy rains.
