07/27/09: NWS Tornado Trackers Breakdown Wild Weather Weekend

Original YNN Buffalo Air Date: 07/27/09
This weekend’s stormy weather had the National Weather Service working double time to keep up with the severe storm outbreak.
Wicked weather tore through the Buffalo-Rochester region this weekend, leaving a trail of disaster in its wake. But how did the Snow Belt turn into Tornado Alley?
“We get these scattered summertime thunderstorms and those thunderstorms are able to reach severe limits, producing strong winds,” said NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Judy Levan.
That includes hail and the occasional tornado. Saturday the NWS tracked two tornadic storms crossing the region. One was a heavy thunderstorm that hovered over the Buffalo International Airport before breaking into a hail shower over Batavia. The other spawned two tornados that hit Corfu and Hilton, in Monroe County.
“It formed in the Alden-Elma area. That one had the funnel that eventually reached the ground and produced the EF1 in Corfu. That tornado then lifted off the ground and traveled when it went across Genesee County and touched back down in Hilton,” explained National Weather Service Meteorologist Bob Hamilton.
Sunday strong winds and rain sent campers packing in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties.
“Allegany State Park was a concern because we have a lot of people camping down there, but it’s very remote down here. It’s not like the stretch where it went through Corfu where you had a lot of people,” Hamilton added pointing to a WNY map.
Levan say the NWS goes beyond just reading radars on a screen. Researchers hit the ground to talk with residents where the tornados touchdown. They talk with residents to find out what type of structural damage occurred, and just what type of tornado they have on their hands.
Weather experts stress local media plays a major role in helping people prepare and react to stormy weather.
“Reach out the media to find out where warnings are. What kind of action you should take. Especially when weather changes so quickly in the summer time,” Levan added.