Wednesday, July 10, was a wild day across Western New York and the Finger Lakes as numerous severe and tornado warnings were issued across our viewing area. We do have one confirmed tornado that touched down in Darien that moved into Alexander before dissipating. This tornado has been rated an EF 0 by the National Weather Service, with winds of 75 mph and a path length of 1 mile. Just one of the few confirmed tornadoes across New York State due to the remnants of Beryl.

Things began to pop off around noon on Wednesday with the first tornado warning for counties along Lake Erie. That cell was responsible for tremendous damage south of Buffalo, and is also responsible for the EF 0 in Genesee County. Then, rotating thunderstorms moved into the eastern end of our viewing area from about 2-4 p.m. before moving out. The storms that produced tornadoes and strong rotation signatures across our region are known as “supercell” thunderstorms. Supercell thunderstorms are rotating thunderstorms and form the presence of strong vertical wind shear. These supercell thunderstorms prompted the National Weather Service out of Buffalo to issue 18 tornado warnings. That is the most that NWS Buffalo has ever issued within a calendar day, and by a long shot as the next closest is seven on June 2, 1998.

It wasn’t just our local weather service who was busy either, the entire state of New York was as a total of 38 tornado warnings were issued for the calendar day of July 10, 2024. That is second most behind the 41 issued across New York State on May 31, 1998. A very busy weather day for many in New York State, and we are glad to see that not many damage reports came out of yesterday’s storms and we will continue to keep you up to date and alerted to any upcoming or occurring severe weather.