- The United States is on the verge of entering ‘uncharted territory’, experts say as the country stands on the verge of breaking an unfavorable record of tornado activity this week with more storm warnings issued
- The deadly spate of weather has already killed one and injured hundreds more in the Midwest, but the slurry of volatile weather shows no signs of letting up anytime soon
- Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have already been ravaged by the barrage of gusting winds and powerful storms, but now New Jersey and New York City have been told to brace for impact
- The National Weather Service received more than a dozen reports of tornadoes on Tuesday evening, officials said, suggesting that the record for consecutive days could be broken
The United States is on the verge of entering ‘uncharted territory’, experts say, as the country stands on the verge of breaking an unfavorable record of tornado activity this week, as more warnings are issued from the Great Plains to the East Coast.
The deadly spate of weather has already killed one and injured hundreds more, but the slurry of volatile weather shows no signs of letting up anytime soon.
On Monday, the US tied its current record of 11 consecutive days with at least eight tornadoes on each of those days, said Patrick Marsh, warning coordination meteorologist for the federal Storm Prediction Center.
Counties across Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have already been ravaged by the barrage of gusting winds and powerful storms, but now residents as far as New Jersey and New York City have been told to brace themselves for impact.
‘We are flirting in uncharted territory,’ Dr. James Marsh of the federal Storm Prediction Center said of the prospect of the storm streak entering an unprecedented twelfth day.
‘Typically, you’d see a break of a day or two in between these long stretches, but we’re just not getting that right now.’
The National Weather Service received more than a dozen reports of tornadoes on Tuesday evening, officials said, suggesting that the record for consecutive days could be broken.
The reports follow 53 tornadoes touching down on Monday across eight states as waves of severe weather swept across the nation’s mid-section.
So far, one person has been killed and more than 130 others injured.
A tally of storm reports posted online by NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, shows that 14 suspected tornadoes touched down in Indiana, 10 in Colorado and nine in Ohio.
Six suspected tornadoes were reported in Iowa, five in Nebraska, four in Illinois, three in Minnesota, while one suspected tornado was reported in Idaho in the West.
Every county in Oklahoma remains under a state of emergency.
Late Tuesday evening, the National Weather service issued tornado warnings for several counties surrounding Manhattan, urging those in the ‘dangerous storm’s’ path to stay inside.
The service said that strong winds and possible flash floods may result from the storm, along with a chance of a hail ‘the size of quarters’ falling from the sky.
More than one million residents across State Island and the greater metro area now remain under tornado watch. The projected affected area includes 250 schools and 14 hospitals.
‘Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely,’ NWS said in a statement.
‘This Tornado Warning replaces the Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for the same area,’ the service added.
All flights out of the city's LaGuardia airport were also grounded as a result of the incoming storms.
Though the airport is situated in Queens - which wasn't included in the warning - all flights were halted as a precaution.
The airport is now up and running with a reduced services, were flights are expected to be delayed by as much as four hours, officials have said.
Also included in the East Coast's tornado warnings were parts of northeastern New Jersey, including Hudson County, Union County and southern Essex County.
Officials have since responded to a number of widespread power outages, downed trees and at least one sighting of a tornado.
The NWS announced that one of its spotters reported seeing a funnel cloud at the base of a rotating thunderstorm in Mendham.
In Sussex County, emergency crews were summoned to Lenape Valley Regional High School to reports of ‘possible tornado damage’ ransacking the building’s structure.
At the time between 50 and 100 people were inside the school attending a track team dinner in the cafeteria when the storm struck.
Two people were injured in the ordeal after a tree reportedly fell onto a vehicle. The pair only suffered minor injuries and nobody was taken to hospital, a representative of the local sheriff’s office said.
Others attending the event took shelter in the gymnasium until emergency crews told them it was safe to leave.
The campus had ‘significant wires down and trees uprooted’ with lesser damage to the front of the building, school Superintendent Paul DiRupo told NJLive.
The school will remain closed on Wednesday as investigators will inspect the full extent of the damage.
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