Two Rare Northeast Tornadoes Strike New York City

Severe storms and tornadoes swept the U.S. Northeast, with two confirmed tornadoes near New York City—one near Atlantic Beach and another just outside city limits near JFK—highlighting the rarity of twisters in dense urban areas. Officials indicated tornadic waterspouts formed off the coast and moved ashore as full tornadoes, causing at least minor damage and injuries as NYC’s population and infrastructure faced significant disruption. In New Jersey and Queens, fast-moving storms triggered flash flooding, trapping vehicles and prompting rescues by emergency crews on major arteries. A separate report noted a Delaware tornado in Dover and an EF-1 tornado in Nassau County on Long Island, along with widespread power outages and property damage. The episode unfolds as meteorologists track a developing El Niño that could become one of the strongest on record, potentially influencing weather patterns globally. In Virginia, the storms proved deadly when a person was struck by lightning amid the severe weather outbreak.