SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- At least nine tornadoes touched down Tuesday across the Northeast, with the strongest occurring in Madison County and reaching wind speeds up to 125 mph.

National Weather Service officials in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Binghamton had confirmed Wednesday evening that that at least nine tornadoes had touched down.

Survey teams were still assessing storm damage and the weather service said confirmation of additional tornadoes was possible.

The strongest tornado Tuesday by far was in Smithfield. It was classified as an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning wind speeds reached between 111-135 mph. All the other tornadoes Tuesday were EF-1 or EF-0, meaning they had wind speeds less than about 111 mph. The ranking scale is from zero to 5.

The path of Tuesday's tornado in Smithfield tornado was 235 yards wide. It sliced a narrow path of destruction over a ridge and traveled for 2.5 miles before losing strength near Route 31.

The tornado touched down at 7:02 p.m. Tuesday. Four people were killed and several homes leveled.

Tuesday's tornadoes that touched down caused plenty of damage, but they aren't terribly uncommon, said meteorologist Drew Montreuil. Clusters of light tornadoes tend to come through New York about every four or five years, he said.

"What happened yesterday, it's not going to happen every day ... but overall it's not too uncommon," Montreuil said.

The weather service also said a tornado that touched down in Lowville in Lewis County was classified as an EF-1 with maximum winds estimated around 100 mph. The tornado traveled a path 10 miles long, cutting a swath as wide as 300 yards. A barn was badly damaged, a truck overturned and another barn with 50 cows inside was flattened. Some of the cows are still unaccounted for.

Two tornadoes were confirmed in Oneida County, in Deerfield and New London. The Deerfield tornado was rated as an EF-0, with winds between 65-110 mph. It was only about 60 yards wide, the weather service said.

The New London tornado was confirmed as a EF-1, with maximum winds between 80-90 mph. The weather service said about 400 trees were downed and a pavilion was destroyed.

Three EF-1 tornadoes were confirmed in Ohio. Two EF-1 tornadoes were confirmed in Pennsylvania.

"I think a lot of people in New York have the sense that they don't get this kind of weather here," Montreuil said. "People should realize it does happen here."