National Weather Service Confirms Tornado Touched Down In Brooklyn

National Weather Service meteorologists, investigating storm damage in the Bay Ridge area with New York City Emergency Management officials, have confirmed that a tornado did in fact touch down on parts of Brooklyn Wednesday morning.

The tornado's heavy winds, estimated to have been up to 111 to 135 miles per hour, tore through sections of Brooklyn, damaging roughly 40 buildings and downing dozens of trees. Residents in the Bay Ridge, Flatbush and Sunset Park neighborhoods reported damaged houses and hundreds of crushed cars along several blocks.

Meteorologists say the tornado path started in Bay Ridge just after 6:30 a.m. and continued on an east-northeast path across 68th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues. Eleven homes along that part of the tornado’s path suffered moderate to severe roof damage.

The storm continued to move east-northeast into Leif Ericson Park Square, where trees were downed and suffered severe damage.

The storm tore off the roof of a Nissan car dealership at the corner of 66th Street and Fifth Avenue, then returned to the ground farther northeast, causing scattered tree damage along Sixth Avenue.

The tornado then returned to the ground to cause more damage on 58th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, where five homes lost their roofs.

A tornado warning was issued for the area around 6 a.m., but it was unclear until Wednesday evening whether a tornado had in fact touched down. -via-