After 29 Confirmed Tornados, Does New York Need Warning Sirens?

If we happened to be keeping a weather scorecard for Western New York over the last couple of years, we've hit some significant milestones that pretty much no one would have guessed would happen. All sorts of odd and out-of-place weather phenomena have hit the Empire State lately, and we don't know what to expect anymore.

If you can think it, we've seen it: blizzards, thunderstorms, snowstorms, heatwaves, hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes. We have had some weird weather lately.

Given these wild swings in the weather in New York, especially on the tornado front, should we as a community start thinking about a tornado warning system like the ones they have in the Midwest?

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New York State has seen a record number of tornados this year. At last count, 29 confirmed twisters had hit the Empire State, causing millions in damage to property across the state.

New Yorkers are hearty folk who can deal with anything you throw at them, so dealing with and recovering from tornadoes is no big deal for us, but do we need to think about finding better ways to be prepared for twisters when they arrive?

According to the Clermont County, Ohio, Department of Emergency Management, their outdoor warning sirens are used to alert residents who may be outdoors when a Tornado Warning is issued by the National Weather Service, a funnel cloud is reported by credible source, or a chemical emergency has occurred and a shelter-in-place order has been issued. In addition to the warning sirens, they also highly suggest that everyone has a NOAA All-Hazard Radio to be updated on weather changes and emergency updates.

The National Weather Service adds that the warning siren announces that something life-threatening is happening and you should go indoors and get more information.

Just when you thought the only thing we needed to worry about was cyclone bomb blizzards.

9 Confirmed Tornados in New York All in 1 Day, So Far

It's been a brutal month for tornadoes in New York State. That's not something you think you'd hear unless you lived in the Midwest or the South.

There have been 19 twisters in July, shattering the record of 13 set in 1992. 9 of them all in one day. And that number may rise as ground surveys are continuing.

Gallery Credit: Credit - Polly McAdams