Results tagged “tornado”

Today Bay Ridge is exactly 365 days separated from the tornado that touched down in the neighborhood, and NY1 is reporting that the dust has settled and things are getting back to normal for the most part. The morning of August 8th one year ago, an EF-2 tornado touched down wiping out homes and automobiles with winds of up to 135 mph. One resident reflects on the damage done at the time, while another says "the story has a silver lining. The twister's damage brought the community closer together." Meanwhile, last night there was a Tornado Warning for Suffolk County, which eventually got downgraded.

Today is Heat Awareness Day. Luckily there is no excessive heat in the Big Apple to be aware of today. Morning sun should give way to afternoon clouds and the high will be 75 at best. There's a non-negligible chance of a shower or thunderstorm this afternoon and evening.

This afternoon's rain will continue into the evening, as some areas are being warned about the storms. New Jersey is supposed to have heavy thunderstorms, a tornado warning was issued, then canceled, for Nassau County, and an urban flood warning was issued for Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens until 7PM!

We love this week’s NY Mag article by “locavore” Manny Howard, who planted a farm in his 800 square foot Brooklyn backyard. He grew vegetables and raised both rabbits and chickens, with the goal of using what he raised from March through July as his sole subsistence for the month of August.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue at Chambers and Water Sts. off Manhattan, an armed robbery on Rockaway Blvd. and 75th St. in Queens, and a shooting on Grafton St. in Brooklyn.
• LibrerDia Lectorum, one of the city's oldest Spanish language bookstores will be closing September 30th. The Manhattan store on 14th St. opened in 1960 and became a mainstay of Spanish literature in the city.
• A fire broke out yesterday afternoon in a building undergoing demolition at 80 Washington St., just a few blocks from the Deutsche Bank building. The fire ocurred in an elevator shaft filled with debris.
• President Bush reversed course and decided that Brooklyn residents should be eligible for disaster relief after all. The Brooklyn Paper reports that Bay Ridge residents affected by the August 8th tornado can call (800) 621–FEMA or visit www.fema.gov to apply for assistance.
• The Times reports that New York City's school bus union is all mobbed up, and that the supposed housecleaning following the federal indictment of its leaders was nothing of the sort.
• Park Rangers and the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit were called to Central Park to rescue a six-foot-long boa constrictor that appeared to be stuck in a rock's fissure. ESU members eventually had to drill the rock to successfully remove the snake, who will likely wind up at a reptile refuge.
• Queens Crap wonders why Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. is holding his German Octoberfest fundraiser (with honorary co-host AG Andrew Cuomo!) at the Czechoslovakian Bohemian Beer Hall and Garden.
• Dirty Laundry: where writers read and musicians perform over the hum a laundromat's machines in the East Village.

The string of pleasant, if not all that meteorologically interesting, weather continues today with another sunny, mild day. More of the same is expected tomorrow, though the mercury may crack the 80 degree mark. The Weather Service has finally come to their senses and backed off their earlier prediction of highs around 90 on Friday and Saturday. They are currently calling for highs around 86, which is more in line with weather.com's predictions of the lower-80s. The next chance of rain is Sunday at the earliest.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that President Bush had signed a "major disaster declaration" for Queens on August 8, the day the weather (including a tornado in Brooklyn and Staten Island) caused much of the city to come to a standstill. This means that Queens residents and business owners will be able to apply for disaster relief.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an escaped prsioner at East Fordham Rd. and Webster Ave. in the Bronx, a gas leak on Main St. in Queens, and a pedestrian struck on East 55th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan.
• FEMA toured parts of Staten Island to determine if any homeowners were entitled to federal aid following last week's tornado and torrential rainstorms.
• Mayor Bloomberg shared some tips on how to be more environmentally friendly in his radio address today. The city is forming a partnership with G.E. and ConEd to make compact flourescent bulbs more affordable.
• A man is hospitalized in stable condition today after being shot by police in Brooklyn. Police officers were flagged down and had their attention directed to a gun-wielding man shooting at a group of people before firing at the cops.
• DUMBO residents are objecting to a planned development that could block views of the Brooklyn Bridge. The 7- to 16-story apartment house would include retail stores and a middle school.
• U.S. Senator from NY Chuck Schumer doesn't care if Karl Rove resigned or didn't. The Senator plans on continuing a probe into U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and Rove's role in the DC affair.
• Curbed passes along some tips for first-time property buyers in NYC.
• The New York Times' City Room blog advises passengers to get a receipt when in a taxi, but otherwise informs readers that the chance of one ever recovering property left in a cab is pretty slim.

So, last week's weather featured intense rain that shut down the subway system, a tornado skipping through Staten Island and Brooklyn, an unbearably steamy afternoon, and a couple days of near-record low temperatures. This week's weather should feature, uh… uh… well, not much of anything other than warm, sunny days.

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt, who has completely covered her house in mosaic tiles.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A murder-suicide on East 176th Street in the Bronx, a confined space rescue at 680 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and a sexual assault at Victory Blvd & Bay St. in Staten Island
• Breaking: The city and families of September 11 victims have worked out a compromise for this year's anniversary events; the city will allow families to enter the pit at Ground Zero.
• The Dow dropped 387 points today - causes included worries about funds and subprime lending.
• Lenora Fulani repudiates her 1989 remarks calling Jews "mass murderers of people of color" and thinks about running for mayor in 2009.
• After three women rejected three Staten Island guys, the guys allegedly bashed in the ladies' car windows, possibly confirming why the women rejected them in the first place.
• The John Travolta connection to yesterday's tornado.
• Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens is being suspended for five games, after intentionally drilling a Toronto Blue Jays player. Question 1 : Will the Yankees have to pay him for those missed games? Question 2: Did you see him on Mythbusters' Baseball Myths show last night?
• Since the Money Honey loves the fur coat she wears in More magazine, PETA calls her "morally bankrupt"
• Police arrested the man accused of stabbing a Brighton Beach father on his way home from buying milk.

Residents are trying to clean up after the mess of yesterday's EF2 tornado that touched down in Brooklyn. At least 40 homes, many in Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, and buildings were damaged. The tornado touched down first at 6:30AM, with winds of over 100 miles per hour, making it the first in the borough since 1889 (there was an F1 in Staten Island in 1995; a F2 in Queens in 1985). Interesting fact: While tornadoes are most likely to occur in the Midwest in spring, they can happen at any time of year and have touched down in all 50 states.

Like the rest of the city yesterday, Brooklyn was recovering from an angry summer squall that shut down the subways and even had its own tornado.

While this morning's commute seems better, most mass transit riders are still confused, frustrated and even betrayed by the subway system and other rail service coming to a stand still during the Wednesday morning rush hour. The MTA admitted that the service was not acceptable on many accounts, from the flooding to the fact that the MTA's website was overwhelmed. Then there's also the fact that the MTA was urging people not to take the subways and opt for a bus instead, only for buses to be (A) few and far between and (B) crowded as anything.

Photograph by ~Raymond on Flickr

The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-2 tornado touched down in Bay Ridge this morning. That category of tornado has winds between 111 to 135 miles per hours, and roofs were blown off buildings and trees fell on top of cars and in the middle of roads. A resident told NY1, "I saw a mass of just leaves turning and it was just dark, like a dark mass. I was afraid and I saw the tree come down. I ran back inside and you could hear the wind. It sounded like a freight train coming through at full speed. It was like ‘whooooomp.’"

As a reader reported earlier, a tornado may have touched down in Bay Ridge. Funnel clouds were spotted early this morning and a tornado warning was posted for Brooklyn, Queens and parts of Nassau County. We won't know if the damage was caused by a tornado, microburst, or straight line winds until the National Weather Service sends out a forensics team to investigate.

The cold front that visited us several times this week has been pulled out to sea by a developing low pressure system over Maine. During it's many crossings the front managed to squeeze a couple of inches of rain out over western portions of the city and three inches or more over Queens and Long Island. Wednesday morning's storm even spawned a weak tornado over Islip.

Today's morning subway and bus commute should be a lot smoother (unless you need to stop at Grand Central) than yesterday's messy commute. There were a number of subway disruptions and diversions due to flooding from the rain, which left many straphangers frustrated. But why did pouring rain stop the subway? Well, here's what the MTA says:

NYC Transit utilized portable pumps and pump trains to help clear 600 feet of 2-foot-deep water across all four tracks on the Queens Boulevard line near 65th Street in Queens today. As a result, service was restored on the E, F and R lines just before rush hour, although commuters should expect some delays.

Oh dear. Not only is today Friday the 13th, and the thirtieth anniversary of the 1977 lightning-caused Blackout, it is also time for another Manhattanhenge. Could it just be astronomical coincidence or evidence of something more sinister?

Yesterday's thunderstorm left its mark around the area. Just under 2,000 homes were without power in the five boroughs (though, given Con Ed's counting, that could be many times more) while thousands of homes in Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut were also powerless. About an inch of rain fell in Central Park.

A cold front is pressing down upon us from the north. The line of rain accompanying the front stretches from Albany to Scranton and should hit the city by mid-afternoon. Beware! Showers and perhaps a thunderstorm will produce locally heavy rains and gusty winds. We may even see a bit of hail. Most of the rain will be out of here by seven or eight this evening, but the chance of showers will linger until midnight.

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/Atlas/phot_st04.html">gloomy, featureless, gray sheets of cloud that cover the sky. Fog can be considered a stratus cloud that is touching the ground.

Pela was one of the many New York bands at SXSW last week. They kept a journal of their time there for us (which included bbq, hotel antics and a car crash)...yeehaw! Also check out My Brightest Diamonds's second journal entry for us, here.

Today may be the last cold day of winter. Spring begins in twelve days and the only spot of cool air between now and then is likely to be next Saturday. This morning's low dipped down to nearly 262 Kelvin (Gothamist is in an SI units mood today) in Central Park. Bridgeport and Islip both set records lows this morning. We'll go out on a limb and say that, unless we get a late-season snowfall, it won't be that cold in Central Park until next winter.

Today's our lucky day! As late as 4:30 this morning, Gothamist was having a little insomnia problem, the Weather Service was calling for widespread freezing rain during the morning rush. Thankfully, that threat and the mess it would have created, have passed and all we've got to worry about today is a few flurries.

Andrew Bird, whose inspired 2005 album The Mysterious Production of Eggs was an indie hit, brought his sublime genre-defying songs (and socks) to a sold-out Bowery Ballroom last night. He was joined on percussion and keyboards by regular collaborator Martin Dosh and Jeremy Ylvisaker – a new addition to his road show – on bass and guitar.

That radar image is showing one bad-ass line of thunderstorms extending south from Rochester. The weather is heating up today, literally and figuratively. Central Park topped out at 69 degrees, while Teterboro reached 72. The 16 degrees above average is our most abnormally warm day since April 20th, when the high temperature was 21 degrees above normal.

Oooh, exciting weather this morning. As already mentioned a tornado warning was in effect for about 15 minutes. No tornado was detected. The warning accompanied intense rain in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, leading to a flash flood warning. 1010 WINS is reporting scattered power outages and flooding across the area.