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Subscribe to RSSA tornado is seen touching down in New York City on Saturday.
Updated at 7:50 p.m. ET: Two tornadoes touched down in New York City late Saturday morning, one in Queens and another in Brooklyn, causing damage and frightening startled residents.
Two possible tornadoes also were reported later Saturday in the Washington, D.C., area as strong winds and heavy rains plowed through the area, leaving tens of thousands without electricity as a severe weather cold front spanned much of the East Coast.
An EF0 tornado made landfall in the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens at approximately 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. The 70 mile per hour winds hurled sand and debris in the air, downed multiple trees and power lines, moved cars and damaged property.
About five minutes later, an EF1 tornado touched down in Canarsie, Brooklyn, the National Weather Service confirmed. The 110 mile per hour winds leveled trees and power lines and damaged homes.
No injuries were reported from either tornado.
Videos taken by bystanders showed a funnel cloud hurling sand and debris in the air, and possibly small pieces of buildings, as it moved through the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens.
In Canarsie, where the tornado ripped off parts of roofs, Terrill Baden struggled to close his front door as the twister rolled in.
"The wind was very stong," Baden said. "It was raining. A lot of debris was flying around."
Linda Beal-Benigno was driving on the Belt Parkway near the Flatbush exit when she said a tornado traveled across the road.
"At first I though it was dark smoke," she told NBCNewYork.com. "The entire belt felt like it was shaking. It was very frightening because you could see the funnel traveling and moving. It crossed the highway and just missed cars."
She added, "I never saw anything like that in my life."
View NBCNewYork.com's complete storm coverage
courtesy Caitlin Walsh
Debris strewn near the tip of Breezy Point, at the Breezy Point Surf Club.
Thomas Sullivan, general manager of the Breezy Point Surf Club, said the twister ripped up cabanas and deck chairs.
"A lot of rain, a lot of wind," he said. "It picked up picnic benches. It picked up Dumpsters."
"It was crazy," neighborhood resident Joseph Mure told The Associated Press. He said he was in the shower when the storm hit, and went outside to snap a picture of the retreating funnel. "There were a lot of sirens going off. You could see it twisting."
Near the nation's capital, tornado-like funnel clouds were reported Saturday afternoon in Chantilly, in Fairfax County, and in Prince George's County, Md. The weather service hadn't confirmed the reports as tornadoes by early Saturday evening.
NBC Learn explains how tornadoes form.
Fairfax County officials said that a tornado was on the ground shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday. They reported three home cave-ins because of downed trees, a water rescue in the Potomac River and dozens of down electrical wires, Dan Schmidt, a fire department spokesman, told the Associated Press.
View NBCWashington.com's complete storm coverage
There were also reports of malfunctioning traffic lights and downed trees and power lines in the area as thunder, heavy rains and winds approaching 60 mph struck the region.
Emergency officials were attending to about a dozen people who were injured during a panicked rush for the exit at the Show Place Arena, hosting Prince George's County Fair, in Upper Marlboro, said Mark Brady, a spokesman for the Prince George's County fire and emergency management agency. About 400 to 500 people were in attendance at the arena, officials said. Twelve were evaluated for injuries and four were transported to hospitals, NBCWashington.com reported.
In the District of Coulmbia there were reports of about 10 downed trees, including one that came down on a southeast apartment building undergoing construction, NBCWashington.com reported.
Al Bello / Getty Images
Rain falls on center court in Arthur Ashe stadium to suspend play on Day 13 of the 2012 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
In Connecticut, strong line of storms left damage in Kent, Ridgefield and Northfield, NBCConnecticut.com reported.
Strong thunderstorms reached western Massachusetts Saturday evening, NBC station WWLP reported.
NBCNewYork.com's Matthew R. Warren and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Bloomberg must have been running his mouth again.
ok, next time there is a tornado in new york city, im going to stand in front of it and let out a big fart...might be a little bit of global warming there, but at least itll stop the twister for sure LOL
I'm just laughing my ass off of seeing an image of a Guido running down a street in Brooklyn saying YO Gena look it's one of those tornadoes yo Gena goin get Tony and Vinnie dey gotta see this. LOL.
Oh i forgot Frankie.
Never will be change because to many people make $$$$$$$$$$$$ raping and pillaging our environment. All human greed when it comes down to the source Stan 3871705.
Tornado's in NYC ?? Oh my............ ! For all those waiting for the end of the world.., start piling up your credit debt. See if you dont have to pay it come Jan 2013.
I predict an unpleasant surprise for all those thinking this way.
I can't beleive that there are people that continue to deny climate change around the world. The ozone layer has been depleted in the atmosphere around Antartica. Ice is melting, birds and fishes are dying for no reason, in fact last week in Tennessee more fish and dead birds were found along a river. Nasa is beginning to study the possiblity of solar flares damaging and entering the earths atmosphere. Solar flares are allowing more radiation into the planet, therefore allowing for more warming. More warming causes changes in the atmosphere that affect the ecosystem. These changes affect the magnetic field of the earth which could be causing the deaths of these birds and fishes. Solar flares have been known to cause satellite disruptions and Nasa predicts that more of solar flares will continue until 2013 to get worse. We can't do anything about the Sun, but the world had decades to stop the ozone hole from growing. I think we have passed that mark now and now the world has to deal with the consequences.
And I can't believe there are still idiots that buy the global warming B.S. Why don't you just mail your money directly to Al Gore.
Its only mother nature doing her thing folks! Happens all the time! Even back in the 20s and in the 50s and 60s we have had tornadoes, nothing new really!
Try telling this simple fact to some global warming goof that is praying for the sky to fall.
I'll bet they didn't blow near as hard as Bloomberg does.
A tornado in NYC? Kinda like the one that hit West Virginia. Did 50 million dollars worth of improvements. Now the Feds will spend a trillion dollars and give eveyone new free housing instead of old free housing. Of course the government will build the new buildings for free for the rich who owned them, and the rich will get to rent them back to the poor who lived there and charge the government higher rent for all the new section 8's the government built for free. A win win for everybody but the taxpayers.
Honestly it is kind of neat to see weather like this in NYC. However, it happens where I live all the time!
It happens in strange places from time to time. A few years ago, we got a funnel cloud go over our town and I'm in the Seattle area on the west coast! That sure was exciting. I was swimming in a pool with my friends, and the next thing we know, the forming cyclone goes right over our heads! Luckily it didn't touch down. The point is, no need for alarm because tornados happen everywhere. It's just rarer in some places than others, but it happens. Media coverage is what making it appear to happen more often, when in fact it isn't and we are just being hyper-aware.
I remember being told when I was younger that tornadoes cant happen just anywhere. Well this proves that it can and does. I feel for the people that were affected by this. They don't have any warning systems in place to tell them to take cover. I feel for all victims everywhere that had their lives turned upside down due to natural disasters.