Parts of the Tri-State Area are under heightened alert this Saturday as forecasters warn of strong to severe thunderstorms, with the potential for tornadoes as conditions grow increasingly unstable.

Throughout history, storms have dropped rain, ice, snow, tornadoes and even a hurricane during Thanksgiving week, upending holiday plans during the biggest travel period of the year.

New York City was hit by a pair of tornadoes 18 years ago, one of which was the first to strike Brooklyn in more than a century. As New Yorker's were waking up Aug. 8, 2007, severe thunderstorms ...