There’s a Tornado Watch in Brooklyn Today!
Damage in Bay Ridge after the 2007 tornado. Source: Wikipedia
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for several counties in New York State until 5pm 8pm today, including Kings County. Danger signs include a “dark, often greenish sky; large hail, a large, dark, low-lying cloud… [and a] loud roar, similar to a freight train.” Tornado watches are less serious than tornado warnings, meaning only that conditions are favorable for tornados. A decade ago, you could understandably take tornado watches less seriously, but over the last six years tornados have hit Brooklyn with increasing frequency.
The first tornado to strike the borough in more than 100 years touched down in 2007, tearing most destructively through Sunset Park and Bay Ridge; it was the strongest tornado in modern New York City history. (There had been a few in Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx in the later part of the 20th century.) In 2010, another tornado cut through Brooklyn, hitting Park Slope hardest. Last year, a tornado touched down in Canarsie.
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