Student experiences during the “tornado” in Geneseo
Photo Courtesy of Christian Chaffee
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, just before 7:30 p.m., a tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) that included Batavia, Attica, Le Roy, Caledonia, Mount Morris, and Geneseo within its boundary. This warning was one of several issued across Western New York that evening, with the NWS Buffalo field office confirming that three EF-1 (86 to 110 mph) tornados had impacted the hamlet of Olcott in Niagara County, East Shelby in Orleans County, and the town of Alexander in Genesee County. Additionally—around the same time as the warning was issued for Geneseo—another tornado warning would be issued for parts of Steuben County.
As stated by WHEC-TV News 10, the one that struck Olcott began as a waterspout that “came ashore in Niagara County… [as a tornado], triggering the area’s first tornado warning and leaving a trail of damage at a popular lakeside park.”
According to the NWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC) earlier that evening, strong thunderstorms were observed moving east from southern Ontario, Canada, and moving southeast from western Lake Ontario, with a “favorable supercell environment.” Supercells are rotating thunderstorms sometimes embedded within a line of thunderstorms that “are responsible for spawning most tornadoes,” according to The Weather Channel. A few hours later, the SPC would report that “[e]arlier supercell storms have consolidated into a more linear storm structure,” with circulations embedded into the line of storms.
Overall, supercells are the “least common type of thunderstorm… [though] are most common in the central part of the United States,” as stated by the NWS, and—even excluding tornadoes—can produce potentially dangerous weather conditions, such as large hail and strong winds.
However, there is some contention online whether what occurred in Geneseo was a tornado at all, with meteorologist Eric Snitil reporting on Thursday, Sept. 3 that five tornadoes had been confirmed so far—the three previously mentioned, alongside an EF-1 tornado in Waterloo, and an EF-2 in Fayette—yet none in Geneseo. Additionally, an Instagram video depicting the possible tornado posted from the account “Geneseo Unfiltered” received some negative comments in the days after the storm calling out the cloud as not being a tornado, comments which would later be deleted.
Snitil would later report that the “NWS has confirmed 2 additional tornadoes near the southern end of Letchworth State Park from Wednesday’s storms,” both rated EF-1, describing 2026 in another Facebook post as “one of the busiest years on record” for tornadoes in New York State. As of Sept. 7, News 8 WROC Rochester reported eight confirmed tornadoes from the storm system that went through last Wednesday, with Buffalo NWS confirming the eighth tornado to have touched down in Webster, NY, yet another EF-1.
Regardless, the severe weather last week caused quite a stir on campus; some students hid out in a basement or at the bottom floor of where they were, others went outside to take photos and videos of the storm, while others just carried on with what they were doing before the warning was issued. The Lamron reached out to several students regarding their experiences on the night of Sept. 2.
Olivia McDonald, who was in her apartment at Saratoga Terrace at the time the storm went through, told The Lamron, “I didn’t see the supercell/tornado from my window, but I could see all the [lightning] bolts and hear the wind whipping. My housemates and I went into our storage closet on the first floor for about 10 minutes when the storm started to get severe.”
Web Editor for The Lamron, Shannon Murphy, described being in their apartment with their three roommates during the time of the storm, stating, “[we were] in our bathroom because it’s our only windowless room,” going on to explain that in case something did happen “we could’ve all fit ourselves in the tub!” As Murphy said, “Overall, even though we knew we would probably be [OK], we were all very scared. Our building was creaking a lot and we could hear the storm outside. Three of us called our parents and my roommate (who isn’t even super religious) started praying. We all definitely felt better to be together though.”
Madilyn Becker, Co-News Editor for The Lamron, stated, “This was my second experience with a tornado … there was one that hit my hometown a few years ago, but this one was definitely stronger than the one that hit my hometown.” Becker explained that “I was in my house and I got the tornado warning on my phone, and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, there is no way this is actually going to be a real tornado,’” a sentiment a friend of Becker’s shared with her over the phone following the warning being issued. Becker went on to describe that “it really did happen, it got really windy and really a lot of lightning, and I was really very scared honestly, and I was lowkey surprised there wasn’t more damage to campus, not that I want there to be damage, but I was just surprised that there wasn’t because of how bad it looked outside.”
Brooke Klugewicz, Editor-in-Chief for The Lamron, was in MacVittie College Union, explaining that “I was waiting for the SA meeting to begin when the alerts went out and Chuck [Chuck Hazlett, Director of Programs, Personnel, and Finances under the Student Association Advisor] ushered us to the basement.” She went on to explain that she “then stayed in the mailroom alongside other students until the weather calmed down enough to go home.” Brooke described being “definitely a bit scared because I had never experienced something like that before. But, I was also super interested in the tornado because I love learning about different natural disasters. Although it was scary, watching the storm was also something really beautiful to witness.”