ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It has been the year for tornadoes, at least in New York State. We recorded the most tornadoes for the state this season in almost 75 years of record keeping.

This is obvious by just looking at a comparison to the average number of tornadoes in a given year. It is usually the month of July that producers the most twisters and if you add up the numbers, we average about nine or ten tornadoes per season for the entire state. This year, statewide, the numbers are much higher.

The very latest tornado touchdown that was relatively close to Rochester was found about 75 miles south of Flower City over central Allegheny County. This happened this happened September 6,  and was rated as in the EF 1 on the Saffer-Simpson scale. This twister had winds of 100 miles per hour as it hopscotched along a six mile path very close to the Southern Tier Expressway (I-86). An estimate and a preliminary count now shows 31 tornadoes for the state this year. That is more than triple the average of nine or ten.  There is one undisputed fact in all this activity, and that is our ability to often “spot” these tornadoes well before touchdown.

You may wonder how a warning is issued for a tornado? There are really just two ways this can happen. One is observation of a trained weather spotter or through law enforcement. Another is with the aforementioned Doppler radar. We should note that it is also the community sharing a video after the storm that can be very valuable.

Remember, you can always send any pictures or shorty video to us here at News10NBC.  The email address is WHEC-weather pub@whec.com