Upstate New York is in the middle of a rapidly evolving severe weather emergency Thursday morning, with an active EAS-activated Tornado Warning tracking east from Cortland toward the Chenango Valley, a second tornado warning just cleared over Cortland city itself, Severe Thunderstorm Warnings covering Ithaca, Elmira and Utica — and a Tornado Watch covering 36 counties through 3 PM EDT.
TAKE COVER NOW: Active Tornado Warning Near Cortland
The National Weather Service in Binghamton issued an EAS-activated Tornado Warning until 12:30 PM EDT for south central Madison, northeastern Cortland and northwestern Chenango counties. Radar detected rotation near Solon — 10 miles east of Cortland — at 11:50 AM, moving east at 45 mph.
“Do not wait to see or hear the tornado,” the NWS Binghamton office warned. The storm is tracking directly toward Taylor (11:55 AM), Otselic (12:05 PM), Smyrna and South Lebanon (12:10 PM) and Earlville (12:15 PM). Anyone in the path must take shelter in a basement or interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building immediately. Mobile homes offer no protection and must be abandoned.
Cortland City Was Also Under Tornado Warning
This is the second tornado-capable storm to track through Cortland County in less than an hour. A separate Tornado Warning, now expiring, was in effect for west central Cortland County — including the city of Cortland itself — with radar-indicated rotation located directly over Cortland at 11:37 AM moving east at 50 mph. Two tornado-warned storms over the same county within one hour underscores how active the atmosphere is over the Southern Tier this morning.
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings: Ithaca, Elmira, Utica and More
Simultaneous Severe Thunderstorm Warnings from the Binghamton office are covering an enormous swath of central New York. One warning covers Cortland, Chemung, Tioga, Tompkins, southeastern Steuben and northwestern Bradford County PA — reaching Ithaca, Elmira, Corning, Horseheads, Big Flats and Sayre with 60 mph wind gusts and penny-size hail, with a tornado possible. A second warning covers southern Oneida, Madison, southeastern Cayuga and southeastern Onondaga counties, tracking through Utica, Rome, Oneida and Pompey with 60 mph gusts.
Both warnings carry “tornado possible” flags — the same storms driving the tornado warnings are producing a broader line of severe wind and hail along the leading edge.
Tornado Watch 352: 36 New York Counties Through 3 PM
The context for all of this is Tornado Watch 352, in effect until 3 PM EDT for 36 New York counties stretching from the Pennsylvania border north to the St. Lawrence River and east to the Vermont line — covering Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Cortland, Binghamton, Ithaca, Utica, Watertown, Oswego and dozens of smaller communities across the Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, Adirondacks and Capital Region.
A tornado watch in upstate New York is a relatively unusual event, seen only a handful of times each decade. Today’s setup is producing tornado-warned cells well ahead of the expected peak afternoon instability — meaning the threat is not winding down; it is still building.
If you are in any of the 36 watch counties, identify your shelter location now. Monitor the NWS Binghamton office and NWS Buffalo office for continuous updates through the 3 PM expiration.
