National Weather Service: Radar Missed the Phelps Tornado

A funnel cloud looms over a rural road lined with trees in the Finger Lakes region.
A funnel cloud is visible above a rural road in the Finger Lakes region, near Phelps, where a tornado was later confirmed.

The EF2 tornado that hit Phelps Monday was the strongest in New York this year but the storm went undetected by radar due to a coverage blind spot.

Spectrum News reports the National Weather Service says the area falls between three radar stations, making low-level storms (under 6,000 feet) harder to detect.

Despite the widespread damage, only one person was injured.

There are no current plans to fix the radar gap.

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