A Tornado For Brooklyn!

This is pretty over-the-top. Early this morning, as a line of very strong storms moved through the region, an EF2 tornado (111-135 mph) dropped down over the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn.

When I was in high school, my dad worked a few blocks from where this twister hit!

It’s an area on Brooklyn’s south shore, near the Verazzano Narrows Bridge and close to the cool waters of the harbor. It’s a surprising place to get this kind of weather event.

When I looked at the photos, I wondered, “Beirut or Bay Ridge?” It was really that significant damage.

After the jump, the Weather Service’s official pronouncement.


PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

SPOTTER REPORTS

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY

512 PM EDT WED AUG 8 2007

…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS CONFIRM EF2 TORNADO

TOUCHDOWN IN BAY RIDGE AND VICINITY IN BROOKLYN…

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS INVESTIGATING STORM DAMAGE IN THE BAY RIDGE AREA WITH NEW YORK CITY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS HAVE CONFIRMED THAT TORNADIC DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED IN THE AREA.

THE TORNADO PATH WAS DISCONTINUOUS AND STARTED IN BAY RIDGE

SOMETIME JUST AFTER 6:30 AM TODAY ON BAY RIDGE AVENUE BETWEEN THIRD AND FOURTH AVENUES…AND CONTINUED ON AN EAST-NORTHEAST PATH ACROSS 68TH STREET BETWEEN THIRD AND FOURTH AVENUES. ELEVEN HOMES IN THIS SECTION HAD MODERATE TO SEVERE ROOF DAMAGE. THE STORM CONTINUED TO MOVE EAST-NORTHEAST INTO LEIF ERICSON PARK SQUARE…WHERE SEVERE DAMAGE TO TREES OCCURRED. AS THE TORNADO LIFTED…IT TORE OFF THE ROOF OF THE NISSAN CAR DEALERSHIP AT THE CORNER OF 66TH STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE. THE TORNADO RETURNED TO THE GROUND FARTHER NORTHEAST…WITH SCATTERED TREE DAMAGE ALONG 6TH AVENUE.

BASED ON THE ASSESSED DAMAGE…THIS TORNADO IS CLASSIFIED AS AN EF-2 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF 111 TO 135 MPH.

THE TORNADO RETURNED TO THE GROUND AS ANOTHER POCKET OF SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED ON 58TH STREET BETWEEN FIFTH AND SIXTH AVENUES. THE ROOF WAS RIPPED OFF OF 5 HOMES…AND TREE DAMAGE INDICATES STRONG EF-1 DAMAGE…WITH WINDS OF 86 TO 100 MPH.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAD ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING FOR THIS STORM AT 6:28 AM.

$$

JC

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