The National Weather Service warned people in Queens on Thursday afternoon to take shelter immediately after meteorologists detected a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near Rockaway Beach shortly after 1 p.m. The tornado warning was in place until 2 p.m.
People outdoors, in a vehicle or in a mobile home were told to move to the closest substantial shelter, while those inside were urged to get to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and stay away from windows. The warning carried the kind of urgency the weather service uses when heavy rain could hide a tornado: Do not wait to see or hear the tornado. TAKE COVER NOW!
The storm was also capable of producing quarter-sized hail, and pockets of heavy rain were forecast through early Thursday evening. That made the timing especially sharp for people in Queens searching for the warning as the afternoon unfolded, with the weather service also warning motorists not to shelter under highway overpasses.
The threat sat inside a broader stretch of unsettled weather across Long Island, where the same system was expected to bring wind gusts as high as 28 mph through Friday, along with a small craft advisory for all Long Island waters and a gale warning for ocean waters east of Montauk. Geoff Bansen said Friday would be a raw, dreary day with periods of cold rain, and temperatures were expected to fall from the upper 50s on Thursday to 40 degrees or below overnight, then into the upper 40s Friday before dropping into the 30s.
The warning itself expired at 2 p.m., but the weather did not settle immediately. Bansen said wet snowflakes seemed unlikely for Nassau and Suffolk, though he said they could not be ruled out toward the end of the storm, and the colder pattern was expected to linger into next week with overnight temperatures in the 30s. Saturday and Sunday were expected to stay dry, but highs were forecast to struggle to reach 50.
