Destructive tornadoes and heavy rains hit the Mid-Atlantic region Thursday evening. Two waterspouts formed off the south coast of Long Island and Queens in New York City and became tornadoes after making landfall. Such events are rare for the state and, as a rule, are significantly inferior in strength and duration to tornadoes that occur in the central part of the United States.
The US National Weather Service in New York warned residents in advance of the threat of tornadoes and flash floods. The department also reported possible wind gusts of up to 50 mph (about 80 km/h).
In Queens, a tornado made landfall in the eastern Rockaways on Thursday. There were no reports of damage following this brief twister.
Another tornado passed through Nassau County on Long Island and affected the Sun and Surf Beach Club. The storm damaged about 50 beach houses. ABC7 reports that one of the club's employees was injured but refused medical attention. No other casualties were reported. After the incident, the establishment was temporarily closed.
Video footage that appeared online shows a rotating column of air, which, according to eyewitnesses, lifted debris into the air, presumably from the beach area.
“This is insane!” A rare Long Island tornado tore through part of Atlantic Beach, New York, on Thursday as severe storms moved through the area. pic.twitter.com/3G8rrn1orP
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) August 21, 2026
This is the first tornado in Nassau since November 2021, according to CNN. County Executive Bruce Blakeman declared a state of emergency. According to him, due to weather-related flooding, emergency services received reports of people trapped in cars.
National Weather Service meteorologist John Murray told the New York Times (NYT) that tornadoes remain rare in New York. According to him, the Atlantic Ocean softens fluctuations in air and water temperatures in the region and prevents the formation of so-called unstable air masses.
New York resident Ilya, in a conversation with RTVI, noted that for the first time in eight years he encountered a report of a tornado. Such natural phenomena are much more often associated with the Midwest than with the Atlantic Coast, he said.
“Despite the cinematic nature of the American tornado, such atmospheric phenomena do not occur throughout the country. Most often, when you hear that a vortex has damaged infrastructure and taken lives, the Midwest comes to mind. Somewhere in the Kansas area. In New York, located on the Atlantic coast, this usually does not happen. To be honest, in all the eight years that I’ve been living here, this is the first report of a tornado in my memory,” said Ilya.
In some areas of New York, almost 3 inches of rain (about 76 mm) fell in a few hours. The rains forced the closure of portions of several major highways, including the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Long Island Expressway in Queens.
The bad weather also affected air travel. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday reported delays to incoming flights at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty.
More severe weather impacts were seen in other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region, including Pennsylvania and Delaware, which also experienced tornadoes.
In Dover, Delaware, the tornado caused “significant damage,” city police said. A tornado ripped the roof off the Super Lodge motel. All guests were evacuated and placed in a temporary shelter. The department later clarified that there were no casualties.
Another tornado was spotted in Columbia, Pennsylvania, as severe thunderstorms moved through the southeastern part of the state. In York County, a school and six homes were damaged. One person suffered minor injuries, the county Emergency Management Agency said.
In Cape Charles, Virginia, a man died after being struck by lightning on the beach. The woman next to him was injured.
In Summit, New Jersey, firefighters responded to a fire in an apartment building after lightning allegedly struck a chimney. No one was injured as a result of the incident.
