New York State Records Most Tornadoes Ever but Why?

As the peak of the tornado season has passed, climate experts are diving into the data and making some interesting discoveries. One statistic that has jumped out to meteorologists has been the proliferation of tornadoes in New York state. What can explain this uptick in tornadic activity in this area? Read on for the details.

How New York Stacked Up Against Tornado Alley

It is not unusual for tornadoes to spin with great regularity across Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Tornado alley is known for its great amount of torandic activity, particularly during the spring months. Most people do not think of the state of New York as a hot bed of tornadic action. However, this has not been a typical year for weather patterns in the Northeast.

Diving into the specific numbers, there have been over 1,600 reported twisters in the U.S. this year through the middle of September. Not surprisingly, 535 of these tornadoes were recorded in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas. Keeping with usual trends, Texas led the nation with 148 tornadoes with Iowa coming in with 131 reports. It should be noted that the shear size of Texas naturally leads to a higher number of tornadoes.

The state of New York has seen 32 tornadoes between the dates of January 1 and September 15, an atypical number for this corner of the country. Of these events, 23 hit in July with three in August and four in September. Most recently, an EF0 tornado was confirmed near Niagara Falls near the town of Grand Island on September 9. Two more September twisters spun up in Pembroke and Worth. This brought the total number of tornadoes this year in New York to 32, the most ever in recorded history for the state.

Looking back through history, the year 1992 produced 25 tornadoes in New York. One year later, the state saw 21 twisters. The same situation happened in 2011 when the count also hit 21.

What Explains the Record-Breaking Year?

What is to blame for the heightened amount of tornadic activity in New York this year? Hurricane Beryl ended up being a prolific producer of tornadoes. What was once a Category 5 storm when it roamed in the warm waters of the Atlantic, Beryl went on to make landfall in Texas on July 8, triggering damage estimates of $28 to $32 billion.

While Beryl made landfall thousands of miles away from New York, the monster storm churned its way to the north through the Great Lakes before arriving in New York a week after landfall. Beryl's moisture merged with a warm front pushing through the region to generate a great deal of tornadic activity. For instance, there were 42 tornado warnings issued in New York on July 10 alone, setting a new single-record for the state.

Less than one week later, another rash of tornadoes broke out in New York when 10 twister touchdowns were confirmed on July 16. The strongest of these storms produced an EF2 tornado in the community of Rome. This twister was on the ground for over five miles, producing peak wind speeds of 135. An 82-year-old died after being hit by flying debris on this date.