Update: The University sent an “all clear” notification and canceled the immediate severe weather threat for the Ithaca campus at 12:15 p.m. via its CornellALERT system. It noted that the immediate threat has “moved past the Ithaca campus.”
The National Weather Service currently has an active tornado watch for Tompkins County in effect until 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Cornell announced a severe weather threat and tornado warning for the Ithaca campus on Thursday morning at approximately 11:30 a.m. amid windy weather, according to an alert from the Office of Emergency Management and its website.
The warning was set to last until an “all clear notification” was sent from campus or local authorities.
The National Weather Service has issued two hazardous weather warnings for the Ithaca region — a tornado watch in effect from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a severe thunderstorm warning in effect from 11:31 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
At the time of the University's alert, a “line of severe thunderstorms” was approaching central campus, and the tornado warning had been issued to northern Tompkins County, according to OEM.
Nearly 4,760 Tompkins County residents are without power as of 12:30 p.m., according to a list of electricity outages by New York State Electric and Gas.
Text message, email and phone call warnings were sent out to the Cornell community from the CornellALERT system on Thursday morning, relaying that there was a weather emergency unfolding in the area.
Cornell’s Office of Emergency Management advised the community to “take shelter immediately in a permanent building” and “stay away from all windows and doors.”
Update, June 18, 12:30 p.m.: This article has been updated to include information about the severe weather threat cancellation and reflect an increase in Tompkins County residents without power.
Varsha Bhargava is the managing editor for the 144th board. She is working as a primary summer editor for The Cornell Daily Sun through The Sun’s summer fellowship program.
Varsha Bhargava is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is the managing editor for the 144th Editorial Board and was a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board. She can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
