Why did CNY get a tornado warning overnight?
Some Central New York residents got an unpleasant wake-up call when the National Weather Service issued a rare tornado warning in the Syracuse area during storms overnight from Sunday into early Monday. The National Weather Service office in Binghamton issued the tornado warning  first for North Syracuse, Solvay and Mattydale, then adding Minoa, East Syracuse and Bridgeport  after spotting rotation on the radar near Onondaga Lake in Liverpool just after 12:30 a.m., according to an early-morning tweet. Meteorologists couldnt confirm whether a tornado actually reached the ground. This is what prompted the Tornado Warning earlier in the #Syracuse metro; one cell was merging into a larger one, then this showed up on radar velocity: rotation tightened to ~80 mph. We are unaware if the rotation ever ended up reaching ground level, however. #nywx pic.twitter.com/cmL1KfZclH  NWS Binghamton (@NWSBinghamton) June 14, 2021  Mitchell Gaines, a weather service meteorologist in the Binghamton office, said radar showed a strong rotation in the storm that prompted the warning. It was a fairly strong and tight signature, and that can lead to a tornado in a fairly quick time frame, Gaines said. Gaines said this a particularly dangerous situation because most people were asleep at the time of the warning. The NWS also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Syracuse, Fairmount and Baldwinsville that warned of strong winds and possible quarter-sized hail. Syracuse Hancock International Airport reported 0.83 inches of rain and sustained wind of 28 mph, with gusts of 35 mph, during the storms, the weather service reported. Little damage has been reported so far, and only two storm-related emergency calls came through as they passed across Onondaga County, according to the countys 911 dispatch center. The weather service had reports of branches down near Syracuse University. Right now we do not have any reports of damage, Gaines said, but well get in touch with local emergency management and county officials to see what kind of damage there was, if any.  More scattered storms are expected this afternoon and evening, some of which could produce damaging winds, hail and heavy rain, according to the Binghamton office. Call or text Megan Craig at 315-925-7137, email her at mcraig@syracuse.com or send a direct message on Twitter @megcraig1.