The National Weather Service in Albany predicts Thursday after 5 p.m. severe thunderstorms should descend on our area again, and have now issued a tornado watch through 9 p.m. The Columbia County Emergency Operations Center will be partially activated until 10 p.m. (UPDATE: IT CLOSED EARLY AT 8 P.M.) The tornado watch is for Greene, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Albany, Rensselear, Schoharie, and Ulster counties. "The main hazards will be damaging wind gusts... large hail and even isolated tornadoes. The area with the greatest threat appears to be just south of the Capital Region," a "Hazardous Weather Outlook" from the NWS said. Gov. Cuomo reported there might have been a tornado, or at least a violent storm, that passed through Elmira before 4 p.m. That line of storms is headed our way. Cuomo has also order Columbia County campgrounds evacuated of all tents. The Daily Mail is reporting three cancellations because of the impending weather:
• The grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting scheduled for this evening at New York Golf Park has been postponed due to threatening weather. The event will now be held at 5 p.m. Aug. 23 at the New York Golf Park facility on Route 9H near the Claverack/Livingston line.
• Claverack Republican Club has postponed this evening’s Music in the Park program. The band, Time Machine, will instead perform from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Claverack Town Park.
• The Dutchmen's Landing Park concert featuring Johnny Moon & the Starz has been canceled due to safety concerns, according to Heart of Catskill Association's Linda Overbaugh.
ColumbiaPage reports another:
• The Firefighter 1 class scheduled to be held in Germantown tonight has been cancelled due to weather. The class will resume on July 31.