For the past two days, our region has received a flurry of severe thunderstorm and even tornado warnings and watches. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are 1,300 tornados in the United States on average each year. Summer is here, and with it the likelihood you'll hear WAMC broadcast a tornado watch or warning. Experts are urging people to take the warnings seriously.
Kimberly McMahon is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Burlington, Vermont. She says a “watch” is issued before a “warning.” "When the conditions are right, when there's the potential for a tornado to develop, there'll be a tornado watch. That usually has a lifespan of a few hours, six hours to possibly eight or 10 hours if we think it's going to be a little more prolonged event. Then going into the more imminent threat is a warning, so that means that a tornado is happening right now, on the ground and that means you need to take immediate action, going into your safety shelter or basement. So a watch is 'keep an eye out' and a warning is 'take action now.'"
The Tornado History Project on its website reports that between May 5, 1952 and September 2, 2014 there were 422 tornados reported in New York. One that looms large in recent memory occurred last July east of Syracuse and claimed the lives of four people, including a mother and her 4-month-old baby.
Then there's the May 1998 twister that tore through Mechanicville and Stillwater that heavily damaged several homes and businesses.
Kimmy Venter is director of communications for the Red Cross in eastern New York. "I would really highly recommend that people, regardless of whether there is severe weather threatening, that people download the Red Cross emergency app, if you have smartphone or tablet you can, in your app store, just search for American Red Cross and find our emergency app which has safety tips and specific steps you can follow for all types of emergencies, including tornados, but there's a lot of other things in there as well. So that's a great resource to have if you're not sure what to do when something pops up, just check that app and that will kind of help you take some concrete steps to prepare. We'd also recommend in the case of preparing for tornados, to have a safe room designated in your house where you would go if you were waiting out a tornado or a severe storm. A place that has no windows, possibly in your basement or underground if possible. But if you don't have a place like that available, a small interior room on the lowest level of your home would probably be a good alternative."
McMahon explains the issuance of tornado watches and warnings. "When conditions are right for a potential tornado, that's when we issue a tornado watch. Basically the decision between a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm watch is the ingredients. Tornados require more wind shear than just a severe thunderstorm. Also severe thunderstorms, the definition is 'containing hail in one inch diameter or greater, or winds 58 mph or greater.' You do need thunderstorms to generate the tornado, but you also need more shear that allows the kind of twisting and rotation to occur."
Venter recommends having an escape plan in mind, something you review from time to time with your family — something that could be practiced in the event of any disaster. "To know two ways that you could escape from every room in your house. We recommend that all throughout the year when we're talking about fire safety too."
Most New York counties are considered "low-risk," but statistics indicate tornados can strike just about anywhere in the state.
