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What is going on? Talk about weird weather. I can't remember Tornadoes ever being that far north, at least in the east before.I find the "too cold for tornado activity" statement a bit odd, seeing as how they are all too common in Minnesota! And nobody can complain that Minnesota isn't cold enoughOn the U.S. East Coast, all cities and towns south of New England should have tornado sirens. Areas north of New York, for the most part, are too cold for tornado activity.
In St Paul, there is a practice tornado siren the first Wednesday of the month at 1pm. Every time I hear the siren, I quickly check the time and day, and then know whether or not to go down to the basement! One of these days there is bound to be a real tornado at 1pm on the first Wednesday, but so far it hasn't happened 
You would probably try to make yourself comfortable in an inside closet or bathroom, hopefully without windows, or would do what I did and spend the night in the middle of the house in a tiny wee hallway where it was probably about 100 degrees from lack of electricity, crying and scared to death, and trying hard to pray but even forgot how to say the prayers you had been praying faithfully every morning and night for years. [-o<I don't know what I would do if a tornado came my way. Very few homes have basements.
Hi Sarah,I find the "too cold for tornado activity" statement a bit odd, seeing as how they are all too common in Minnesota! And nobody can complain that Minnesota isn't cold enough
RegardsFirst of all you need to understand what causes a tornado to occur. It is basically uplift with a nimbus cloud. This uplift starts a rotation within the cloud. The lift is caused by warm air over-riding an area of cold air. Clouds that have a drastic change in temps, will cause a massive amount of lift, and are called Super-Cells. These clouds will, at the very least, cause severe thunderstorms and often tornados.
The reason that New England does not see the amount of tornados that the mid-west does, is that the situation does not occur as it does in the mid-west.
The midwest is offered the cool air from the Rockies and the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. Perfect circumstances for the production of tornados.
Plus the fact that at the opportune time for these circumstances to occur, the Jet Stream normally is in direct cooperation. A low pressure will occur over Washington State and then the jet stream will carry that low over the Rockies, where it cools and dries out, creating a High Pressure area, and then it is met by a warm, wet Low Pressure air mass being carried up out of the Gulf. These two different air masses, a cool, dry one and a Warm, wet one, perfect items for the formation of a super cell.
Basically, the items needed to form super cells are just not that available in New England. Although, they are possible and do occur all the time. There was one in Mechanicville NY that basically wiped a certain part of the town off the map, and of course, the Worcester, Mass F5 tornado.
To make a long story short, they are rare compared to tornado alley, but under the right circumstances, they could most definately occur. If you ever get a tornado warning issued in your area, by the NWS, take it seriously