> * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NEW YORK (MANHATTAN) COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW
> YORK... BRONX COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK... EASTERN BERGEN COUNTY IN
> NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY.
There was earlier this week the 3rd tornado/waterspout sighting in southeast MA/RI in as many weeks -- that's the rare part. After the first one I was asking the resident tornado enthusiast about this -- he and his wife (who works for the NWS) take their vacations tornado chasing in the midwest. They aren;t supposed to be so rare in western Mass because sometimes the warm wet air from the Gulf of Mexico sometimes pushes that far, so I'd imagine they're not unheard of in NYC. Aha:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tornado_Alley.gif>
I don't think local topography has a huge effect. They hit the flatlands for the same sort of reasons as the trailer park effect -- there are other variables involved. As ever, see Wikipedia.
-- Andy
