A tornado touched down in Manorville, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake during a severe thunderstorm on Labor Day, but no reported injuries, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The twister came shortly after the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a tornado warning for the Manorville area shortly before 5 p.m. Monday. It was confirmed as an EF0, the weakest on the Enhanced Fujita Scale that ranks tornado strength, with 85 mph winds. The cyclone was 50-feet wide, traveled 1.6 miles, and lasted five minutes after it touched down at 4:33 p.m.
“The tornado first touched down on Dayton Street, about 400 yards south of the intersection of South Street and Dayton Avenue in Manorville,” Upton-based NWS meteorologists said in a statement. “The tornado continued northeast through the south end of neighboring Rosewood Street and then across its intersecting cross street of South Street.”
The tornado sheared large tree limbs and tree tops and uprooted at least a dozen shallow rooted large trees, which downed several electric poles and caused collateral tree damage to a few houses in the neighborhood, NWS said. A shed was destroyed and damage to residences included sporadic blown off shingles and siding, missing storm screens, and a couple of broken windows, the agency added.
“The tornado then continued northeast through a wooded area, where more tree damage was noted, before crossing the Long Island Expressway near Exit 69 while lifting,” the statement continued. “The path of tree damage and debris ended on the service road on the north side of the LIE near the intersection with Wading River Road.”
Ryan Hanrahan, chief meteorologist for NBC Connecticut, tweeted that radar indicated a tornado debris signature in the area. Twitter user Gary Bennett also posted a video of an apparent water spout over the ocean off the coast of Fire Island Pines on Monday evening.
It was the first tornado to hit Long Island since a weak EFO touched down on Fishers Island in October. That was a month after another EFO twister hit Ronkonkoma.
Before that, the last time a tornado hit Long Island was in 2016, when another small tornado hit Mattituck, although a twister touched down in Whitestone, Queens last year.
And the last tornado to hit LI before the Mattituck twister was in 2012. That tornado traveled from Great River to Lake Ronkonkoma.
