Tornado Risk in Allegany County, NY
Allegany County's tornado history, by the numbers
12 tornado tracks have crossed Allegany County since 1969 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 6.3 years - the Low band on this site's scale. That is the 34th percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Among 62 New York counties in this dataset, Allegany County ranks 15 for how often a tornado touches down.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Allegany County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 12 recorded tracks, 9 were weak (EF0-1) and 3 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
New York does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a Allegany County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
The storm that misses Allegany County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across New York are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What Allegany County's figure does not tell you
Allegany County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Allegany County covers about 1,030 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Allegany County has about 47,299 residents.