BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Western New York saw an outbreak of tornadoes last week that hadn’t been seen in years. So the question is — are tornadoes abnormal in Western New York? And are we seeing more of them?
Last week’s weather turned violent in Western NY, as thunderstorms turned tornadic. At least four tornadoes ripped through the area. The damage done was serious, but fortunately, no one was killed.
Watch: This Eden family is predicting it will take them five years to rebuild their farm after it was destroyed by a tornado.
The tornadoes in Eden, Aurora, Arkwright, and Darien, were as strong as EF-2 caliber, which on the Fujita scale, are still considered “low end” tornadoes. So how common are these? Let’s take a look at some numbers.
According to NOAA, up until last week, there have been a total of 22 days with reported tornadoes hitting Erie County, since 1950. Chautauqua County has seen 24, Genesee just three, Wyoming and Niagara have had four, Cattaraugus 12 and nine in Allegany.
The average number of tornadoes per year in New York is nine. Nearby Pennsylvania averages 16. Typically, June through September brings the greatest chance of seeing a tornado in New York state.
So now you know that tornadoes are not completely out of the ordinary for this part of the country. It’s just that when they do take place, they can produce serious damage.
Got a weather question that you’d like answered? E-mail me at weather@wkbw.com.
