(CBS/AP) - The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado struck a beachfront neighborhood in New York City.
Videos taken by bystanders show the funnel cloud hurling sand and debris in the air as it moves through the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens on Saturday. A New York Fire Department spokesman said there were power lines down and possibly other damage.
There are no reports of injuries.
Radar data, video and witness reports confirmed that the cyclone that hit New York City was a tornado, National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Hofmann said. He said an inspection team would assess the damage and before estimating the strength of the storm. Hofmann said some witnesses were reporting that the wind had been strong enough to lift cars off the pavement.
The NWS has issued a public severe weather advisory for much of the Northeastern United States for Saturday afternoon and evening.
The advisory said significant severe thunderstorms, including the development of widespread damaging winds and a few tornadoes, are expected across portions of the lower Great Lakes, New England and Mid-Atlantic States Saturday afternoon into tonight.
Tornado watches are in effects for New York City and parts of New York State, Northeast Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, until 10:00 p.m. Saturday.
The strong upper-level weather system will interact with a moist and unstable air mass as it moves into the northeastern U.S.
Areas most likely to experience this activity include Western and Central Connecticut, Northern Delaware, Western and Central Massachusetts, Northeastern Maryland, Southwestern New Hampshire, New Jersey, Central and Eastern New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Central and Southern Vermont.
"It was crazy," said neighborhood resident Joseph Mure, who was in the shower when the storm hit, and went outside to snap a picture of the retreating funnel. "There were a lot of sirens going off. You could see it twisting."
Severe storms are also possible from the Northeastern United States into the Carolinas.
Damaging wind gusts will be common across the moderate risk area, and some locations could receive wind gusts of over 70 mph.
State and local emergency managers are monitoring this developing situation. Those in the threatened area are urged to review severe weather safety rules and to listen to radio, TV and NOAA weather radio for possible watches and warnings.
