A “weak, short-lived” tornado touched down in Mattituck without causing injuries on Wednesday—four years to the day since the last twister hit Long Island, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The small twister packed 70-mph winds, was 40-yards wide and traveled .3 miles as severe thunderstorms rolled through the East End at 4:25 p.m., shortly after NWS issued a tornado warning for the area, the agency said in preliminary findings. It was classified as an EFO—the weakest category on the tornado rating scale.
“Wind damage was confined mainly to trees, where several trees were snapped in half,” Upton-based NWS meteorologists said in a statement. “Most wind damage was concentrated between Main Road and New Suffolk Avenue close to the corridor from Cardinal Drive southeast to Blossom Bend, where the tornado lifted before reaching New Suffolk Avenue.”
Across the Long Island Sound in Connecticut, the same storm also spawned another EF0 tornado, which tossed a shed into a tree, an NWS meteorologist said.
Before yesterday’s twister on the North Fork, the last tornado to hit Suffolk County struck four years ago to the day. The previous 85-mph tornado tore up Great River, Oakdale, Bohemia and Lake Ronkonkoma on Aug. 10, 2011. A month after that, an EF1 tornado with 110-mph winds touched down in Queens and Brooklyn. Thirty tornadoes have hit LI since 1950, according to NWS.
As for the current weather, NWS issued a hazardous weather outlook for Nassau and Suffolk counties, citing the threat of thunderstorms capable of causing flash flooding through the weekend.
Mattituck, NY- confirmed EF0 tornado touched down on Long Island today causing damage. pic.twitter.com/oPVrfCJcae
— Stringer News (@Stringernews) August 11, 2016
