A severe thunderstorm watch covered most of the area Tuesday PM as the National Weather Service Watertown Storm threat reached portions of Northern and Central New York. Some localized warnings were also in effect at times, putting people in the warned areas under a tighter timeline.
A watch means conditions are favorable for thunderstorms that could produce damaging wind and hail. A warning is more immediate: it means a particular thunderstorm is much more likely to create damaging wind and hail within the warned area, and it may also indicate an isolated tornado.
Tuesday PM in Central and Northern New York
Thunderstorms threatened portions of Northern and Central New York on Tuesday afternoon, when the broad watch covered most of the area. The alerts affected much of Central and Northern New York and made the exact footprint the main question for readers trying to sort out whether they were inside the watch or one of the shorter-lived warnings.
The weather terms carried different levels of urgency. A severe thunderstorm contains damaging winds of at least 58 MPH and/or quarter-sized hail or larger, while a severe thunderstorm warning points to imminent danger for large hail, damaging winds, lightning, and torrential rain in the path of the strongest part of the storm.
An Emergency Alert and warning zones
An Emergency Alert will go off on a phone and TV if a severe thunderstorm warning is issued. That gives people in the warned area the clearest signal to act fast, especially if they are outdoors, on the road, or near open water.
People outdoors should get inside a home, a strong building, or a car. Boaters should head to shore immediately. People indoors should go to an interior room on the lowest level and stay away from windows and doors.
Roads and shelter
Drivers should pull over to the side of the road until the storm passes. Heavy rain with any thunderstorm can flood roads quickly, and people should never try to drive through an area where water covers the road, even if it seems shallow.
Water covering a road may sweep a vehicle away. Destructive wind damage will occur with 80+ MPH wind, which is why the shift from a watch to a warning changes what people inside the area should do right away.
Watertown Storm alert scope
The alert pattern on Tuesday left one unresolved piece for readers in Central and Northern New York: which exact locations were under the watch or warning at the time. The most practical step was to follow the live alert on phone and TV and move immediately if a warning reached the area.
A tornado warning means there is imminent danger for serious weather to approach, but the Tuesday PM alerts were centered on severe thunderstorm conditions and the immediate safety steps that followed from them.
