ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Since the middle of December there have been 1,750 tornadoes across the country. That is the highest number in 13 years with the month of May historically seeing the greatest number.

It is important to note, that month of December is not your typical time of the year to get a tornado. It is also unusual to have a tornado touchdown in Northern California. Preliminary reports indicate that a twister had an impact this past weekend in the community of Scotts Valley, which is about 70 miles south of San Francisco. During this event, numerous cars were overturned with trees and powerlines coming down. This one tornado was rated as an EF-1 (on the Enhanced Fujita scale) with winds of 90 mph. Unfortunately, there were three people injured.

It is interesting to note there was also more wind damage all across Northern California. For example, the San Francisco Airport had a wind gust of 80 miles per hour. This was considered a straight-line wind event (not tornadic) which means the wind was strong enough to push down trees and powerlines, but the falling objects were all in one direction. This is important for the National Weather Service survey teams in determining what precipitated the event (a thunderstorm or tornado).

It is a simplistic comparison, but the number of tornadoes between the East Coast and the West Coast is notable. California this year has had six tornadoes, but New York State has had 32 confirmed tornadoes (we average nine or ten). Let’s hope the tornadic season is over for most of the county.