Tornadoes in the Southern Tier

I was talking about the Tornadoes that hit Texas over the weekend and I said thank goodness we don’t have them here, well I was wrong, and here are some facts about Tornadoes in New York.

According to the New York Data Base web site New York State has recorded more than 400 tornadoes since 1950 when they began keeping track.

Yesterday a tornado watch was issued for Pennsylvania heading towards up to the Southern Tier of New York.

This morning Broome Country was under a state of emergency because of downed trees, power outages and traffic lights out.

I live in Tioga County and we were hit with some nasty rain and wind too.

We have had a few tornadoes here in the southern tier throughout the years, certainly not what you get in tornado alley, but strong enough to cause damage and twelve of the tornadoes recorded in New York State have caused fatalities.

We average about nine tornadoes a year in our state and although I have never seen one there have been recorded sighting from people here in Greater Binghamton.

According to NBC news a tornado in 2014 hit the town of Smithfield just east of Syracuse killing four people, it was the second deadliest tornado to hit the state since the 1950’s with winds of 113 mph to 157 mph.

If you see a tornado coming get to shelter somewhere with maybe a basement of a sturdy structure and stay clear of cars and trees.

[via NBC News]

[via New York State Data Base]