ROCHESTER, N.Y. \u2014 The region is cleaning up on Thursday after severe storms led to multiple tornado warnings, downed trees and power lines, flooded roads, large hail, and widespread power outages.<\/p>\n
SEE MORE LIVE REPORTING FROM NEWS10NBC TODAY ON THURSDAY<\/a><\/p>\n A little before 3:30 p.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service confirmed there was evidence of both a tornado and straight-line wind damage in Waterloo and Fayette in Seneca County on Wednesday. It later confirmed one tornado in Olcott in Niagara County, one tornado in Alexander in Genesee County (near Route 20), and one in East Shelby in Orleans County.<\/p>\n NWS is also set to survey storm damage in Shelby in Orleans County and Byron in Genesee County on Thursday after several tornado observations yesterday. An Orleans County firefighter reported seeing a tornado touch down near Shelby Center, and viewers have been sending in photos of the supercell that may have produced a tornado around Shelby.<\/p>\n If you have any photos of tornado-like clouds in your area, send them to webmaster@whec.com. See our coverage of yesterday\u2019s storms here<\/a> and photos from viewers here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wednesday evening\u2019s storms led to tornado warnings for Monroe, Genesee, Orleans, Steuben, Seneca, and Livingston counties, some of which lasted through 11 p.m. <\/p>\n News10NBC\u2019s Garrett Chan was live in Webster on Thursday morning with a look at the damage, and First Alert Meteorologist Nate Morris was live in Shelby and Byron with details on the NWS survey and what a \u201ctornado observation\u201d means.<\/p>\n Storm damage in Webster<\/p>\n Most of the remaining power outages in Monroe County are in Webster. On Thursday morning, News10NBC saw a large tree that toppled power lines on Holt Road, tree limbs that damaged a lawn on Schlegel Road, and some traffic lights out at intersections. We also saw RG&E crews working to repair damaged wires.<\/p>\n As you\u2019re heading out on Thursday, beware of flooded roads, underpasses, and downed trees blocking the roads. The utility crews are reminding people to stay at least 30 feet away from downed wires, since live wires carry a high voltage that can cause injury or death. If a downed wire comes in contact with your vehicle, stay inside and wait for help. <\/p>\n RG&E customers can report downed wires or other hazards by calling 1-800-743-1701. NYSEG customers can call 1-800.572-1131.<\/p>\n More about the tornado observations<\/p>\n The region saw five tornado warnings on Wednesday evening. For two of those, in Shelby and in Byron, people actually reported seeing a tornado. The National Weather Service will try to confirm those reports on Thursday.<\/p>\n The first reported tornado may have started as a waterspout, which is a tornado over a body of water. As First Alert Meteorologist Nate Morris explains, the waterspout likely moved from Lake Ontario to the Town of Newfane in Niagara County, then moved inland toward Shelby. Nate saw large tree limbs down and debris scattered around Shelby.<\/p>\n In Byron, Nate also saw some debris scattered, but said the damage didn\u2019t look as severe as Shelby. He said he wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the reported tornado touched down, lifted, then touched down again. Check back for updates on the NWS\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n How common are tornadoes in the region?<\/p>\n After strong winds in late June led to two confirmed tornadoes in the Finger Lakes area, Nate dug into some data<\/a> on tornadoes in the region. <\/p>\n Though tornadoes in New York State are uncommon, they are still a very real threat. Tornado records in New York go back to 1748. Since then, there have been 625 recorded tornadoes as of June. This makes New York the state with the 30th\u00a0most tornadoes. For comparison, Texas is first with 10,665 tornadoes, and Alaska is 50th\u00a0with only four. New York\u2019s 625 tornadoes have killed 58 people, injured 530, and caused nearly half a billion dollars in damage.<\/p>\n Thankfully, due to our climate and geographical setup, the majority of our tornadoes are weak: 72% have been EF0s and EF1s. EF2s make up 17%, and EF3s\/EF4s are very rare. We have never had an EF5. 6% of our tornadoes were of unknown strength; most of these happened very early in the record, as it is difficult to estimate the strength of a tornado with modern scales using the historical reports of the time.<\/p>\n The top five counties with the most tornadoes are surprisingly well spread out geographically:<\/p>\n Monroe County has seen eight tornadoes, happening on average once every 19 years. The only one to hit Rochester was on July 1, 1932. Using historical data, it was estimated to be an F2 and stretched for over 26 miles, forming four miles south of Brockport and dissipating three miles south of Webster. This is pretty incredible, considering the average New York tornado only lasts for about three miles. Monroe County has not seen a tornado since 2020.<\/p>\n Latest power outage numbers<\/p>\n Over 10,000 homes or businesses are still without power across the region on Thursday morning. In total, over 38,000 customers lost power at one point across Western New York and the Finger Lakes, according to RG&E and NYSEG. Here are the numbers as of 7 p.m.<\/p>\n You can see the latest outage numbers for RG&E here<\/a>, NYSEG here<\/a>, and National Grid here<\/a>.<\/p>\n RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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