Tornado Warning In Nyc

[Gavin Hannah]

Listening to the US open semi final, and all they are talking about is the fact there is an afternoon long Tornado warning across New York City.

I think the US commentators are bit bemused by this. I'm not sure NYC gets many if any tornadoes......

[knocker]

I think you can see why.

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ

240 PM EDT SAT SEP 8 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

BERKS COUNTY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA...

THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF READING...

LEHIGH COUNTY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA...

THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF ALLENTOWN...

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA...

THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF EASTON...

NORTHWESTERN BUCKS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...

CHESTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...

NORTHWESTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...

* UNTIL 345 PM EDT

* AT 236 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A

LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS IN

EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING

FROM HAMBURG TO 17 MILES WEST OF HONEY BROOK TO 41 MILES WEST OF

GLEN ROY...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 19 MILES NORTH OF READING

TO LANCASTER TO 19 MILES NORTHWEST OF BALTIMORE...AND MOVING EAST

AT 45 MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...

SINKING SPRING...SHOEMAKERSVILLE AND LEESPORT AROUND 245 PM EDT...

WANAMAKERS...WYOMISSING...READING AND LENHARTSVILLE AROUND 250 PM

EDT...

NEW TRIPOLI AND FLEETWOOD AROUND 255 PM EDT...

JORDAN VALLEY AROUND 300 PM EDT...

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

WHILE NOT IMMEDIATELY LIKELY...A TORNADO MAY DEVELOP. IF A TORNADO

IS SPOTTED...ACT QUICKLY AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A STURDY

STRUCTURE...SUCH AS A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM.

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO

GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THESE STORMS. MOVE INDOORS

IMMEDIATELY! REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE

ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

PLEASE REPORT HAIL OR STRONG WINDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY

CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT

SATURDAY EVENING FOR DELAWARE AND NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND AND NEW

JERSEY AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

&&

LAT...LON 4054 7621 4058 7602 4063 7601 4067 7595

4092 7511 4078 7515 4075 7519 4068 7520

4068 7518 4032 7529 3976 7592 3972 7605

3972 7613 3988 7600 3996 7600 4003 7594

4011 7595 4014 7589 4038 7626

TIME...MOT...LOC 1839Z 248DEG 41KT 4060 7600 4006 7618

3956 7673

[Aaron]

'Tornado' (waterspout might be more appropriate) off the coast of New York, reportedly struck parts of the city as it moved from the sea

[Gavin Hannah]

EW YORK (AP) — A tornado swept out of the sea and hit a beachfront neighborhood in New York City on Saturday, hurling debris in the air, knocking out power and startling residents who once thought of twisters as a Midwestern phenomenon.

Firefighters were still assessing the damage, but no serious injuries were reported and the area affected by the storm appeared small.

Videos taken by bystanders showed a funnel cloud sucking up water, then sand, and then small pieces of buildings, as it moved through the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula inQueens.

Residents had advance notice. The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for Queens and Brooklyn at around 10:40 a.m. The storm took people by surprise anyway when it struck about 30 minutes later.

"I was showing videos of tornadoes to my 4-year-old on my phone, and two minutes later, it hit," said neighborhood resident Peter Maloney. "Just like they always say, it sounded like a train."

In the storm's wake, the community of seaside bungalows was littered with broken flower pots, knocked-down fences and smashed windows.

At the Breezy Point Surf Club, the tornado ripped the roofs off rows of cabanas, scattered deck chairs and left a heavy metal barbecue and propane tank sitting in the middle of a softball field, at least 100 yards from any nearby home.

"It picked up picnic benches. It picked up Dumpsters," said the club's general manager, Thomas Sullivan.

Half an hour later the weather was beautiful, but he had to close the club to clean up the damage.

The tornado struck as part of a line of storms that were expected to bring damaging winds, hail, heavy rain and possibly more tornadoes throughout the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday. AcrossNew York state, in Buffalo, strong winds from a broad front of thunderstorms blew roofing off of some buildings and sent bricks falling into the street.

The storm system killed four people, including a child, in Oklahoma on Friday.

Radar data, video and witness reports confirmed that the cyclone that hit New York City was a tornado, National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Hofmann said. He said an inspection team would assess the damage and before estimating the strength of the storm. Hofmann said some witnesses were reporting that the wind had been strong enough to lift cars off the pavement.

Lizann Maher, a worker at Kennedy's Restaurant at the edge of Jamaica Bay, said she saw a "swirling cone kind of thing with something flying in it" come down and then head back out into the water toward Brooklyn.

"It was scary. We have all glass so we kept saying, 'Get away from the glass!' just in case it did come back around," she said.

Tornadoes were once exceedingly rare in New York, but they have occurred with regularity in recent years. A small tornado uprooted trees on Long Island last month. In 2010, a September storm spawned two tornadoes that knocked down thousands of trees and blew off a few rooftops in Brooklyn and Queens. A small tornado struck the same year in the Bronx. In 2007, a more powerful tornado damaged homes in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The storm delayed play at the U.S. Open tennis tournament a few miles away. The women's final, scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed until Sunday because of a forecast of additional rain.

[The watcher]

A bit funny that it struck a place called "Breezy Point" surf club. Just a bit breezy today then .

On a serious note, it is good to see nobody was injured.

[Dan the Man]

Was only an EF0 tornado according to TWC. Same sort of severity we saw a few months ago in Lincs.

[Gavin Hannah]

I wonder how long it will be before doomsday ice age sayers point to this as the beginning.... or use it to suit their agenda "NYC was struck by a tornado.... we are heading for an ice age.... severe weather is all around us."

In all seriousness, it was a beast of a storm on the East coast. One does have to wonder how the changing sea ice in the Arctic is contributing to the global weather system. And if these kinds of things are more common/less common or just the same as before.

[Gavin Hannah]

A link to some good videos and photos of the TWO (now confirmed) tornadoes that struck NYC yesterday.

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19490619/fdny-responds-to-possible-tornado-in-nyc

[knocker]

I'm having a slight problem with the videos it's on YouTube.

Breezy Point, NY tornado 9-08-12

[Coast]

Multiple tornados touch down on East Coast

Recently, tornados struck Bellmawr, N.J. and Queens and Brooklyn, N.Y., while Washington D.C. also saw a severe thunderstorm on the same day. Geography professor David Legates said while tornados are unusual events in the northeast, this is not the first time they have hit the region. “They’re not uncommon but they’re not as common as the tornados are in, say, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas,†Legates said. “Tornados have appeared in all 50 states, they just occur less frequently and with less intensity on the east coast.â€

According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, from 2000 to 2009, there have been 74 tornadoes in the state of New York, 85 in Maryland and 13 in New Jersey. Tornadoes are classified by the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which is based on sets of wind estimates. The scale ranges from F0 tornadoes, which are storms that produce light damage with winds less than 73 m.p.h., to F5 tornadoes which indicates utter destruction and winds up to 317 m.p.h., according to NOAA.

“The scale is dependent on what is hit,†Legates said. “If a tornado moves through a wheat field, doing virtually no damage, is it an F1 or an F-2? The Enhanced Fujita scale takes this into account and is based on Doppler radar and wind speed, independent of damage.†According to the NOAA, there has never been an F5 tornado on the east coast since 1950. The tornado last week, which struck Bellmawr, N.J., averaged winds of 70 mph, classifying it as an F0.

According to the National Weather Service, the two tornados that touched down in Queens and Brooklyn last week reached wind speeds of 70 m.p.h. and 110 m.p.h., classifying them as F0 and F2, respectively. With three tornados touching down in the last two weeks, climatologists are questioning whether there is a new weather trend hitting the east coast. Sophomore Lindsey Marmel, whose hometown is close to Belmawr, N.J., said the recent tornado outbreak is concerning. “I’ve always had a fear of tornados,†Marmel said. “I know they’re not common but the news doesn’t help much.â€

She said she saw first-hand the impact of a tornado when one hit her hometown roughly 10 years ago. “I remember a tornado destroyed the house of a kid in one of my classes in seventh grade,†Marmel said. “His family was forced to live in a trailer until their house was rebuilt.†Despite her experience with tornados, Marmel said she believes that the recent tornado outbreak is a cycle that will die down. “They’ve happened before, they’re going to happen again,†Marmel said.Sophomore Shane Ross said he is also somewhat nervous about the possibility of tornadoes.

“I’m a little more concerned now than I was,†Ross said. “It seems to always have been likely.†Legates said people do not need to worry about the prospect of a tornado. “A tornado is formed from instability,†he said. “It requires moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, cold air from Canada and dry air from the Southwest. When all of those pressure systems are condensed together, you have a tornado.â€

http://www.udreview....04#.UFg1brJlREM