NYC: Two Tornadoes and a Macroburst

"Two turntables and a microphone" -- Beck

"Two tornadoes and a macroburst" -- National Weather Service

The National Weather Service in Upton, NY has confirmed two tornadoes in New York City, inside a wider Macroburst (downburst) straight-line winds area. The first weak (EF-0) tornado was on the ground for two miles in Brooklyn. The second, an EF-1 tornado, was four miles long through Queens County. But the strongest winds, 125 mph, were in an 8-mile stretch, up to 5-miles wide (a very wide pattern) through Queens County.

- READ PREVIOUS BLOG ENTRY: "Radar, Videos, Hoaxes: Another NYC Tornado, Or Not?"

What this all adds up to is that the majority of NYC residents did not see a tornado, but a large portion of the local population was affected by straight-line winds which had the equivalent speeds of an EF-2 tornado. With no photos or video of the tornadoes (other than hoaxes and radar imagery), I was a little surprised to see them confirmed, but that just goes to show that they can be obscured by rain and it can take a thorough storm scene investigation (one of which I tagged along on, earlier this year) to ferret out the root causes of severe weather damage.