Sunday, April 26 marked the beginning of Severe Weather Preparedness Week for New York and New England.

The National Weather Service has partnered up with state, local, and volunteer agencies, as well as private sector organizations, in an effort to educate residents about the dangers of severe weather and how they can protect themselves from it.

Over the course of the week, the NWS will focus on a different aspect of severe weather each day. The schedule for this year is as follows:

Severe thunderstorms produce flash flooding, damaging winds, large hail and even tornadoes in our area. While we typically do not receive the same degree of severity that places in the Midwest and Deep South do, we also likely aren't as prepared as they are.  

Now is the time to do just that, before the we reach our peak of the severe weather season, which runs from June through August. But as we saw over the past few weeks across our area, strong storms are possible any time of year.

For more information, you can visit the Severe Weather Awareness page by clicking here.