Twister-Like Cloud Spotted Over Long Island: Video

NORTH BABYLON, NY —A unique twister-like cloud was observed Wednesday morning on Long Island, according to a new video posted by a North Babylon resident.

The footage, taken by Will Testa and shared with Patch, shows a dark cloud swirling above Marion G. Vedder Elementary School around 8 a.m., he said.

Testa told Patch that he shot a quick video of the cloud with his phone before it dissipated.

"It was definitely out of the ordinary, never seen anything like that in person," Testa said. "It didn’t hang around very long, maybe 20 or 30 seconds before it was out of sight."

In the video, listeners can here people commenting. "It's a twister!" one man says, while a woman calls it "an optical illusion."

According to NOAA, a funnel cloud is associated with a rotating column of air that is not in contact with the ground (therefore different from a tornado). If the funnel cloud touches water, it’s classified as a waterspout.

However, it remains unclear if or when the cloud over North Babylon ever touched the ground or the water.

Meanwhile, NOAA defines a tornado, aka twister, as a "violently rotating column of air" that reaches the ground. A tornado nearly always starts as a funnel cloud, NOAA said, and may be accompanied by a loud roaring noise.

Patch has reached out to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to find out exactly what type of cloud it is.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.