NYC Severe Thunderstorm/Tornado Discussion

[IsentropicLift]

Has anyone noticed that over the past few years, thunderstorm severity (tornadic activity) seems to be increasing. Our region has been under more Tornado watches, and more Tornado warnings the past few years than I can ever remember. Of course the big highlight of 2010 was the Tornadic storm which hit NYC on 9/16/10 which produced 1 fatality in Queens. A forgotten severe weather day was three days prior in which the city and metro was under a tornado watch, and warnings were issued. Oddly enough, I'm having a hard time pulling up the old watch graphics off the SPC site in which I know existed. Other tornadic storms hit parts of NJ and NY on July 29, 2010, including an E-F2 near High Point.

This is definitly a picture you don't see everyday.......

[weatherwiz]

Not sure if increasing maybe the right word but if you're comparing trends to past years and small periods of time than sure there has been a bit of an increase over the past few years. It may be more of a "cycle" then anything. We'll go through several years where there is not much in the way of tornadic activity but then we'll also go through years of higher activity, sort of like now.

[LocoAko]

That photo is from 1976 and the tornado was in Jersey City. It has been circulated recently as either last year's tornadoes or the tornado in Brooklyn a few years ago. Very frustrating. LOL.

[bluewave]

Taking a look at the climo page from the SPC gives you a good idea of the variability over time.

It currently stops at 2006 but you can get the general idea.

http://www.spc.noaa....ne/rda/OKX.html

[IsentropicLift]

That photo is from 1976 and the tornado was in Jersey City. It has been circulated recently as either last year's tornadoes or the tornado in Brooklyn a few years ago. Very frustrating. LOL.

I did notice that the bottom picture looked rather old, but it was posted on a site which talked about last years event in Brooklyn.

[IsentropicLift]

Taking a look at the climo page from the SPC gives you a good idea of the variability over time.

It currently stops at 2006 but you can get the general idea.

http://www.spc.noaa....ne/rda/OKX.html

The general number of severe reports do not appear to be rising much, its more of a case where warnings are verifying more often and storms are remaining severe for longer durations.

[Cfa]

The fact that NYC had 3 tornadoes last year alone shows that there's certainly been an uptick. Extreme weather in general seems to have increased dramatically.

I don't remember being placed under a Tornado Warning like every single year. A few years ago just being in a Tornado Watch box was major to me, now I'm seeing pronounced shelf clouds and funnel clouds and what not multiple times a year it seems. A saw that tornadic storm to the north with my own eyes.

[Thunderdude]

Here is another memerable events in 2007 both on July 18th the tornado that towndown on that in Islip Terrance and second event was I think August 8 a few tornadoes down in Staten Island and first ever in Brooklyn which was that caused damage near Prospect Park. Summer of 2007 were a great year with thunderstorms and alot of good ones hit my area on Long Island.

[LocoAko]

The fact that NYC had 3 tornadoes last year alone shows that there's certainly been an uptick. Extreme weather in general seems to have increased dramatically.

I don't remember being placed under a Tornado Warning like every single year. A few years ago just being in a Tornado Watch box was major to me, now I'm seeing pronounced shelf clouds and funnel clouds and what not multiple times a year it seems. A saw that tornadic storm to the north with my own eyes.

One year really makes a good case, huh?

[LocoAko]

I did notice that the bottom picture looked rather old, but it was posted on a site which talked about last years event in Brooklyn.

http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~101028

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-kanalley/statue-of-liberty-tornado_b_720355.html

[Cfa]

One year really makes a good case, huh?

I never said such a thing, but lately there seems to have been a rise.

Whether 2010 was just a super anomaly or not remains to be seen, it certainly raises eyebrows though since we had an EF2 in 2007.

[IsentropicLift]

The first 23 years of my life, I never saw hail outside of winter, which was hard to distinguish between actual hail and thunderstleet. Over the last two years, I've seen hail three times, but its never been large enough to meet severe criteria. There was one cell in 09 which dumped 3" of hail in Westwood, NJ, which ranged from pea size up to ping pong ball size. It passed directly over me before that but I didn't recieve any hail from it.

Below is from the Bergen Record, I've never seen anything like it in this area..

[Isotherm]

I never said such a thing, but lately there seems to have been a rise.

Whether 2010 was just a super anomaly or not remains to be seen, it certainly raises eyebrows though since we had an EF2 in 2007.

2010's severe weather doesn't surprise me as we were experiencing major changes globally, shift from strong el nino to strong la nina, which tends to make the atmosphere more susceptible to extremes overall.

[LongIslandHurricanes]

Long Island Tornadoes

http://www.hurricanes-blizzards-noreasters.com/TORNADOES.html

[bluewave]

Long Island Tornadoes

http://www.hurricane.../TORNADOES.html

The damage in Lynbrook right after that Labor Day tornado back in 98 was the most that I have seen down in this area before.

I can also remember seeing the tower on the 95 tornado near Babylon from here in Long Beach.That seems to be an active

local spot for spin- ups right where the storms intersect the seabreeze front.

[rgwp96]

The first 23 years of my life, I never saw hail outside of winter, which was hard to distinguish between actual hail and thunderstleet. Over the last two years, I've seen hail three times, but its never been large enough to meet severe criteria. There was one cell in 09 which dumped 3" of hail in Westwood, NJ, which ranged from pea size up to ping pong ball size. It passed directly over me before that but I didn't recieve any hail from it.

Below is from the Bergen Record, I've never seen anything like it in this area..

than you havent been paying attention. I have seen hail at least once every year for as far back as i could remember.

[IsentropicLift]

than you havent been paying attention. I have seen hail at least once every year for as far back as i could remember.

Your elevation might have something to do with that. Down here in the Valley hail is extremely rare.

[k***]

[TheTrials]

The first 23 years of my life, I never saw hail outside of winter, which was hard to distinguish between actual hail and thunderstleet. Over the last two years, I've seen hail three times, but its never been large enough to meet severe criteria. There was one cell in 09 which dumped 3" of hail in Westwood, NJ, which ranged from pea size up to ping pong ball size. It passed directly over me before that but I didn't recieve any hail from it.

Below is from the Bergen Record, I've never seen anything like it in this area..

Wow, you have written some interesting stuff on this board, but this might be your best one yet. Hail, outside of winter? First of all, if you saw something that looked like hail in winter, assuming it wasn't the very rare severe thunderstorm, you were either seeing sleet or graupel, both of which form a completely different way than true hail.

Secondly, Im willing to bet that there has been hail at least once in every "23" years of your life, or at least every other year.

If you actually want to have a topic like this, which may be a nice little research topic, I would start by gathering some actual data and get some good sources other than just the internet and then post your findings. This thread started off silly from the get go with that bogus picture.

[IsentropicLift]

Wow, you have written some interesting stuff on this board, but this might be your best one yet. Hail, outside of winter? First of all, if you saw something that looked like hail in winter, assuming it wasn't the very rare severe thunderstorm, you were either seeing sleet or graupel, both of which form a completely different way than true hail.

Secondly, Im willing to bet that there has been hail at least once in every "23" years of your life, or at least every other year.

If you actually want to have a topic like this, which may be a nice little research topic, I would start by gathering some actual data and get some good sources other than just the internet and then post your findings. This thread started off silly from the get go with that bogus picture.

99 times out of 100, cells do not produce hail in my immediate area, plain and simple. Christmas day in 2002 we had rain which changed over to sleet/hail during a thunderstorm which then changed over to snow. I can't say whether it was hail, or just thundersleet. Then, a few weeks ago, lots of people were reporting thundersleet, but I will tell you, it looked way too big to be sleet. Other than that,a saw hail a few years ago down in DE during a severe storm. It's only been the last two years that I've seen hail at my house, and trust me I've been watching.

and don't lecture me about the differences between hail and sleet and how they form, I'm well aware of the science behind it. When there is thunder and lightning and ice is falling from the sky with temps in the 30's, its hard to distinguish.

[Stormlover74]

We also had tornadoes in my area (Union County) back in 89 (part of the major November outbreak that hit much of the eastern half of the country), October 1990, and June 93, plus a derecho that spawned a tornado on labor day 98

99 times out of 100, cells do not produce hail in my immediate area, plain and simple. Christmas day in 2002 we had rain which changed over to sleet/hail during a thunderstorm which then changed over to snow. I can't say whether it was hail, or just thundersleet. Then, a few weeks ago, lots of people were reporting thundersleet, but I will tell you, it looked way too big to be sleet. Other than that,a saw hail a few years ago down in DE during a severe storm. It's only been the last two years that I've seen hail at my house, and trust me I've been watching.

and don't lecture me about the differences between hail and sleet and how they form, I'm well aware of the science behind it. When there is thunder and lightning and ice is falling from the sky with temps in the 30's, its hard to distinguish.

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

Anyone have any info on the Wantagh and Seaford EF2's from the early 70's?

Growing up in Wantagh the effect of the sea breeze generally spared us severe weather so i am extremely curious as to the synoptics that allowed for such an event. Rare to say the least.

I did see a rotating wall cloud here in Long Beach in September 2007 during a tornado warning, That storm was created by a warm front and moved South to North off the ocean, so I would venture a guess that either one or both the Wantagh, Seaford events were similar in origin.

[bluewave]

Anyone have any info on the Wantagh and Seaford EF2's from the early 70's?

Growing up in Wantagh the effect of the sea breeze generally spared us severe weather so i am extremely curious as to the synoptics that allowed for such an event. Rare to say the least.

I did see a rotating wall cloud here in Long Beach in September 2007 during a tornado warning, That storm was created by a warm front and moved South to North off the ocean, so I would venture a guess that either one or both the Wantagh, Seaford events were similar in origin.

I can remember us under the tornado warning on 10/11/07.I was at work here that day and it was raining so hard that I could not see very far.

I wish that I was off that day so I would have been able to get to an area with a better view.That was one of the heaviest downpours of

the last few years here.

I spent time in Wantagh during the 70's.Those storms don't really stand out in my memory but I was very young and mostly there just on weekends.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON NY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

SOUTHWESTERN NASSAU COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK...

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT...

* AT 358 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 13 MILES SOUTH

OF ATLANTIC BEACH...OR ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTH OF LONG BEACH...MOVING

NORTH AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

ATLANTIC BEACH...LONG BEACH...CEDARHURST AND WOODMERE BY 430 PM.

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

I can remember us under the tornado warning on 10/11/07.I was at work here that day and it was raining so hard that I could not see very far.

I wish that I was off that day so I would have been able to get to an area with a better view.That was one of the heaviest downpours of

the last few years here.

I spent time in Wantagh during the 70's.Those storms don't really stand out in my memory but I was very young and mostly there just on weekends.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON NY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

SOUTHWESTERN NASSAU COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK...

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT...

* AT 358 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 13 MILES SOUTH

OF ATLANTIC BEACH...OR ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTH OF LONG BEACH...MOVING

NORTH AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

ATLANTIC BEACH...LONG BEACH...CEDARHURST AND WOODMERE BY 430 PM.

We had a few inches of rain in an hour. I was living at Monroe Beach at the time and watched the whole thing right from my terrace. Shore Road was completely flooded with several FEET of water. It was pretty easy to see the shifting winds over the ocean based on the direction of the white caps. There was no real funnel however.

The Wantagh, Seaford events seem extreme to say the least. An F2 tornado had to have caused extreme tree damage and at least some structural damage. There have to be some pics out there somewhere.