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A tornado struck Atlantic Beach Thursday evening as a line of severe thunderstorms rolled through Long Island. A National Weather Service tornado warning was in effect in Nassau from about 6:52 p.m. until roughly 7:04 p.m.
The National Weather Service issued the tornado warning for the Oceanside and Baldwin Harbor area, tied to a severe thunderstorm near Rockaway Beach and part of a broader severe weather system slamming metropolitan New York.
The tornado made landfall in Atlantic Beah, tearing through the Sun and Surf Beach Club near the ocean. It’s unclear if there were any injuries. None have been officially reported.
Torrential rain moved across Long Island Thursday night, part of a First Alert Weather day across the region. Residents on the South Shore captured images of the tornado touching down over the water and reaching landfall.
GLI meteorologist Samantha Augeri shared this ominous video of a waterspout moving onshore:
Around 6:45 p.m., a waterspout moved onshore near Atlantic Beach, becoming a tornado and ripping through the Sun and Surf Beach Club toward Silver Point with damaging winds, Augeri said.
“The storm later weakened as it moved east, bringing torrential rain and localized flooding to parts of Long Island,” she added. “It was probably a low-end tornado. Those beach structures are not too strong, and when we get tornadoes on Long Island, they’re typically rated EFO and EF1 on the tornado scale and that would mean winds in a range of 65-110 mph.”
A flash flood warning was also issued for the South Shore of Nassau County as thunderstorms dumped heavy rain at rates of one to three inches per hour, with storm totals expected to reach one to two inches and isolated pockets as high as three to five inches.
Devastation at Sun and Surf Beach Club
Barbara Parnell in Atlantic Beach shared the photos below, depicting the devastation left in the wake of the storm.
Just before 9:30 p.m., the City of Long Beach issue brief statement on social media:
“The Long Beach Fire Department has assisted with the reported tornado impacting a beach club in Atlantic Beach. We continue to monitor this evening’s storms, but have no reports of significant damage within Long Beach.”
At least 17 emergency medical services and rescue teams responded to the tornado touchdown in Atlantic Beach.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman in a statement declared a state of emergency and noted that the Silver Point Beach Club also was also hit hard by the tornado.
“A search team has been mobilized to make sure no one is trapped within the cabanas,” Blakeman said. “There are reports of people trapped in their vehicles due to flooding in the South Shore, and first responders are assisting in their rescue.”
Blakeman said he has spoken with Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and that the counties will coordinate efforts if any regional response is necessary.
Brooklyn got three inches of rain by 7:15 p.m.
For Long Island, the flood watch is expected to stretch past midnight.
Conditions are expected to improve Friday, with a mix of sun and clouds and highs near 80 — before another round of heavy rain and strong storms moves in Saturday.
Top: Barbara Parnell
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