WNYT reports that the significant and widespread damage in parts of Columbia and Rensselaer counties on July 4 came from storms with straight-line winds of up to 100 miles per hour, and not a tornado, the National Weather Service says. National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Stephen DiRienzo said, “There are pockets of very intense damage. Most of the trees have fallen in the same direction, and most of the trees damaged are the same type of tree. They seem to have uprooted the locust trees, from what people are telling me. I talked to a couple of people who said it was like blinding rain and wind for a number of minutes and some hail mixed in with it.... It seemed like all the damage was in the same direction, so it seemed like it was straight-line winds from the large thunderstorm that went through the area last night, and that storm was responsible for the damage that occurred.” All those fallen trees knocked over poles and downed wires, knocking out electricity to many. Read more about this story at the WNYT website.