4th LI Tornado Confirmed During Intense Weekend Storm

WESTHAMPTON, NY — A fourth tornado touched down on Long Island Saturday in the area between Westhampton and Remsenburg, the National Weather Service confirmed Monday.

Other tornadoes also made landfall in Woodmere, East Islip, and in the Shirley/Manorville area, the National Weather Service said.

According to Brian Ciemnecki, meteoroligst with the National Weather Service office at Upton, the details are still being gathered regarding the Remsenburg/Westhampton EF-O tornado, but individuals on social media had photos indicating it was in the Mill Road area.

Tornadoes, Ciemnecki said, are caused by shifting winds; Saturday saw a strong southerly or southeastern flow. While the afternoon was breezy and mild, when a cold front came through, it brought in winds from another direction, he said. In addition, the ocean temperature was still warmer than the colder surfaces on land, he said.

Those conditions contributed to "spin-ups" as the system came through, with veering winds changing direction. Not all the "little rotations" reached the ground, but those rotations in the atmosphere are what cause tornadic conditions, he said.

Tornadoes swept across Rhode Island, Connecticut and Long Island, a rare occurrence in November — with three in Suffolk County alone, an unprecedented event, experts said.

While Ciemnecki said it was not uncommon to have a tornado on Long Island at this time of year, "It is rather uncommon to have three in Suffolk County all on one day. That's the rarity part of it," he said.

Looking ahead, the week's temps are expected to remain in the 40s and lower 50s with a few light showers possible Monday, he said. By Thursday, the temperatures could reach the 60s before a cold front comes through Friday, with temps in the lower 50s.

The tornadoes ripped through communities, tearing roofs off some buildings and flipping some planes at Brookhaven Calabro Airport, Ciemnecki said.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone was expected to take a tour of the storm damage Monday, including a Suffolk County Department of Public Works yard and salt barn that sustained significant damage leaving it structurally unsound in Westhampton, he said.

On Saturday, many residents on the East End got tornado warnings on their phones, urging them to seek cover.

The tornadoes were the first November tornadoes on record on the island, according to a tweet by Matt Brickman, an NBC New York meteorologist.

"The New York tornado database goes back to 1950 & there's no record of any others," Brickman said.

The first report of a tornado on the island was at 2:37 p.m. in Woodmere, where several trees and power lines were knocked down. From there, the tornado, with peak winds of 85 mph, lifted and traveled toward the northeast toward Hempstead, Uniondale and Levittown.

In Uniondale, the tornado touched down again, tearing a roof off a two-story Colonial building on Liberty Street. The roof landed on a nearby house, the weather service said.

Scattered debris, including shingles, insulation and twisted siding was thrown into the next block up.

Significant damage was also noted near Clover Lane in Levittown, where a large tree feel onto a home before the tornado lifted at 2:55 p.m.

About a half hour later, a brief tornado touched down in East Islip.

The narrow tornado with top winds of 85 mph likely touched down at the southwestern end of Hollins Lane at 3:20 p.m. and then continued over Brushwood Court, Bayview Avenue, Josephine Lane and Kay Court before lifting over the JFK Elementary School sport fields and becoming a funnel cloud at 3:22 p.m., the storm survey report says.

A few dozen large trees were uprooted and minor roof and siding damage was observed on several houses, the report says of the damage in East Islip.

After departing East Islip, the funnel cloud briefly touched down as a weak tornado in the Frog Land and Jade Street area of Oakdale, causing a very large partially rotted oak tree to "topple onto and destroy a home," the weather service says.

The strongest tornado of the three with maximum winds of about 110 mph touched down just southwest of Francine Place and Mastic Boulevard in Shirley at 3:42 p.m. and then traveled northeast along the Long Island Rail Road and adjacent backyards.

After uprooting numerous trees, the tornado "hooked northeast over the Lidl supermarket and flipped over a 50-ton air handler unit on the roof before tearing off the parapet and collapsing the covered walkway" over Chipotle Mexican Grill, officials said.

No injuries were reported in any of the tornadoes.

With reporting by Ryan Bonner and Peggy Spellman Hoey.