Summer is now well in the rear-view mirror. The more persistent the chill gets, the less likely we are to see thunderstorms, let alone severe weather such as hail or tornadoes.
For Western New York, severe weather “season” tends to run from late May through late August. That’s when the temperatures are highest and when the atmosphere is able to hold the most amount of moisture at our latitude. Heat and moisture, of course, are key ingredients for thunderstorms in general.
Careful weather observers will notice though that severe weather doesn’t play by the rules of a calendar. As long as heat, moisture, instability and some energy are available, thunderstorms are possible.
Related: A recipe for severe weather
Below is a breakdown of monthly severe weather reports from 2019. Notice how February and October both had a couple of instances of wind damage. It’s no surprise though that May and August were the busiest months this year.
For more on the medium and long-range weather patterns that contributed to this year’s severe weather in Western New York and across the country, check out this week’s Heather’s Weather Whys.
New episodes of Heather’s Weather Whys are posted to the WGRZ YouTube channel every Wednesday evening. You can also watch on Thursdays at 5:30 on Channel 2 News.
If you have a weather question for Heather to answer, send it to her at heather.waldman@wgrz.com of connect with her on Facebook or Twitter.
