87 tornadoes were reported in the US in August, of which 73 were confirmed.
August 8 (New York) An EF2 tornado struck New York City at 6:30 am EDT (10:30 UTC) on August 8. The hardest-hit area was the
Bay Ridge area of
Brooklyn, where many trees—as much as 40% of the trees in
Sunset Park were knocked down and several homes and buildings lost part of their roofs. A second tornado was also confirmed just east of the track of the first tornado and rated as a strong EF1 where additional roofs of homes were damaged. The
Flatbush neighborhood, as well as areas on
Staten Island, were also affected. Accompanying the tornadoes was a storm which dumped several inches of rain on the city in a few hours, resulting in flooding which effectively shut down the mass transit system. Several people were injured by the tornado, and one person died from the associated flooding. The tornado was the first to hit
Brooklyn since 1950 when modern record-keeping began.
August 10 (Philippines) A destructive tornado struck
Zambales, Philippines, heavily damaging or destroying several homes and killing one person.
August 19 (Typhoon Sepat) A tornado spawned by Typhoon Sepat touched down in
Zhejiang Province, killing 13 people and injuring at least 62 others. More than 1,100 buildings were destroyed and 22,700 hectares of crops were damaged by the tornado. The tornado touched down around 11:30 pm local time near
Wenzhou City. The half-mile (800 m) wide tornado tracked for 5 mi (8 km) before dissipating. Eight of the 62 people who were injured sustained serious injuries. Damages from the tornado were estimated at 138.35 million yuan (US$18. million).
August 22 (Philippines) During the evening of August 22, a strong tornado struck the town of Bulacan. The tornado destroyed 44 homes and damaged 21 others while injuring two people. Four days after the tornado, the local governments provided roofing materials to the affected homes.
August 23–24 A large
derecho with winds up to 100 mph (160 km/h) did significant damage in the
Chicago area and in western
Michigan. Embedded in the derecho was an EF1 tornado that touched down in
Winfield, Illinois in
DuPage County. An EF0 tornado was spotted in
Sanilac County, Michigan around 5:21 pm EDT on August 23 after the hot muggy day caused convection east of an oncoming (eastbound) cold front. Another unconfirmed tornado was spotted tracking from
Livonia, Michigan to
Redford Township, Michigan. The National Weather Service office in
Grand Rapids, Michigan also confirmed that an EF1 tornadoes hit rural
Montcalm County near Cedar Lake. Non-tornadic severe thunderstorms also did serious damage in
Berrien,
Van Buren,
Kalamazoo, and
Allegan counties. On August 24, following conditions similar to the previous day, an EF3 tornado with winds near formed two miles (3 km) north of
Charlotte, Michigan, doing severe damage along Vermontville Highway, passing through
Potterville, near 21st Century Plastics Corporation, and crossing
I-69 in
Eaton County before dissipating as it approached
Dimondale, touching down around 4:25 pm EDT and leaving a damage path varying from to wide and long. Around 4:55 pm EDT, the same storm produced an EF1 tornado which touched down at the intersection of Waverly Road and
M-99 in southeastern
Lansing, extending across I-96, towards the intersections of Aurelius Road with Jolly Road and Dunkel Road before finally dissipating near the Jolly Road interchange on
I-496. Other storms in the same system later produced tornadoes in the NWS Detroit/Pontiac office coverage area. The most powerful one was a strong EF2 tornado that touched down in
Cohoctah Township,
Livingston County, Michigan at around 5:30 pm EDT. Remaining on the ground for , with an average track width of and a maximum track width of in the city of
Fenton,
Genesee County, the funnel continued through
Deerfield Township and northwestern
Tyrone Township before entering
Genesee County and the city of
Fenton, where it caused the partial collapse of "a large retail structure" at the intersection of Owen Road and
US-23. It then passed on into
Holly, in
Oakland County before dissipating into straight-line winds east of Holly. Three other tornadoes were confirmed by damage surveys. An EF0 tornado touched down briefly (track length of ) near the intersection of Durand Road and
M-21 in eastern
Shiawassee County, Michigan at around 5:23 pm EDT, while another EF0 tornado touched down for in
Salem Township,
Washtenaw County at around 6:02 pm EDT. Additionally, an EF1 tornado struck in
Hadley Township,
Lapeer County, at around 6:16 pm EDT, leaving a damage path. Numerous reports of straight-line wind damage were also received throughout the entire NWS Detroit/Pontiac coverage area. The storms in this system were part of the same system that sat over the
Midwest for almost a week, bringing pouring rain at first and then the severe weather later in the week. This storm system and stationary front also caused severe flooding in
Ohio.
August 23 (Colombia) A rare tornado occurred in the capital of
Colombia,
Bogotá, and was caught on tape. There were no immediate word on any damage or injuries. Much of western Colombia lies along the
Andes mountain chain which limits tornado activity in that region. However, in June 2001 a tornado killed six people and injured 350 in the town of
Barranquillia in extreme northern Colombia.
August 26 A localized but damaging tornado outbreak produced 11 tornadoes in eastern
North Dakota and northwestern
Minnesota on the evening of August 26. The strongest event of the outbreak was a large, rain-wrapped EF4 wedge tornado that devastated the town of
Northwood, North Dakota. This multiple-vortex tornado began to the southwest of town, snapping numerous trees and striking the Northwood Muni-Vince Airport at EF1 strength, where several planes were damaged. A metal storage building and a small airplane hangar were reduced to bare slabs at that location. The tornado grew to nearly and reached EF3 strength as it struck Northwood directly. Of the roughly 460 homes in Northwood, 90% of them sustained some type of damage. The local health center, bank, fire station, school, supermarket, and grain elevator were all damaged. Near the grain elevator, several rail cars were knocked off the tracks. Hundreds of trees were snapped, uprooted, or damaged throughout town, and one person was killed in a mobile home park that was destroyed at the north edge of town. A small area of EF4 damage was noted as the tornado exited at the northeast corner of town. An agricultural company, a construction company, and a car dealership were completely destroyed in this area. The construction company was entirely flattened, with steel beams twisted and thrown into nearby fields. A large metal storage tank that originated in this area was found away in a corn field. Numerous vehicles were thrown hundreds of yards from the car dealership, many of which were mangled beyond recognition. Farm fields in this area were heavily scoured, and mature corn stalks in one field were snapped at the base and flattened to the ground, with husked ears of corn found scattered about. EF1 damage was observed further to the northeast before the tornado dissipated. In addition to the fatality, 18 others were injured in Northwood. An EF2 tornado touched down near
Reynolds, North Dakota, snapping numerous trees near the
Red River, and flattening a flag pole and an antique windmill to the ground. The tornado crossed into Minnesota, where a quonset hut and a pole shed were destroyed before the tornado dissipated near
Eldred. Later that evening, a large EF3 tornado passed near
Rugh Lake, North Dakota, destroying garages and outbuildings on three farms, tossing grain bins, and snapping numerous trees. Gravel roads were deeply scarred by flying debris, five bison were killed, and two heavy combines were thrown and smashed to pieces by the tornado. Eight other weak tornadoes occurred that evening as well. ==September==