Severe thunderstorms turn deadly with tornadoes, damaging winds racing across Northeast

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Weekend severe storms, tornadoes turn deadly in Northeast

A storm system that spawned dozens of tornadoes in America's heartland made its presence known Saturday across the Northeast with hundreds of reports of wind damage, severe thunderstorms and even several tornadoes.

NEW YORK – A storm system that spawned dozens of tornadoes in America's heartland made its presence known Saturday across the Northeast with hundreds of reports of wind damage, severe thunderstorms and even several tornadoes.

Severe Thunderstorm Watches and a Tornado Watch covered more than 30 million residents from the Delmarva Peninsula through upstate New York.

The FOX Forecast Center warned that a clash of air masses and instability was enough to trigger the eruption of storms that developed over Ohio and moved their way eastward to the Interstate 95 corridor.

MULTI-STATE TORNADO OUTBREAK LEAVES DOZENS DEAD, TRAILS OF CATASTROPHIC DESTRUCTION

Severe weather reports from Saturday, April 1, 2023.

(FOX Weather)

New York City was included in the threat zone, where heavy rain and gusty winds temporarily forced visitors in Times Square to seek shelter during the early evening.

Areas south and west of the New York City tri-state area were the hardest hit, with a deadly EF-3 tornado that moved through Sussex County, Delaware.

Local National Weather Service offices issued at least a dozen Tornado Warnings, including for areas in Delaware and near the Jersey Shore.

Social media posts throughout the southwestern and central parts of Delaware showed trees on top of homes and damaged roofs.

Emergency management in Delaware said several trees and wires were down in Bridgeville, and officials reported at least one rescue was conducted following the storm. In addition, the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center said in a Facebook post that one person was killed in the town of Greenwood when a building collapsed during the tornado.

The NWS also confirmed that at least four tornadoes touched down in New Jersey and one twister struck southeastern Pennsylvania.

Another tornado was confirmed in Cecil County, Maryland. Officials said the EF-1 tornado had winds of 90 mph and traveled just over 4 miles. 

And in Ohio, the Warren Township Police Department said a 13-year-old was killed when a large tree fell on top of a home.

TORNADO TOPPLES TREES, DAMAGES HOMES IN DELAWARE

In addition to the reported tornadoes, the NWS received several witness accounts of dime-sized hail from southern Pennsylvania through Delaware. A 98-mph wind gust was also observed by a local weather reading site in Sussex County, Delaware, likely associated with the confirmed tornado near Bridgeville.

Gusty winds knocked power out to thousands

The combination of storms and gusty winds associated with a cold front caused nearly a million power outages in the eastern half of the U.S.

Communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania appeared to be the hardest hit, according to PowerOutage.US.

Winds gusted to 45 mph in Columbus, Ohio, and in the nation's capital, winds gusted to more than 30 mph outside of thunderstorms.

These gusts helped dislodge branches and created power outages from Georgia to New England.

Winds are expected to continue to diminish on Sunday as the potent cold front makes its way off the Eastern Seaboard.

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