News 12's Most-Viewed: #9 – 2-minute tornado uproots trees, causes damage in Ronkonkoma

<p>The National Weather Service says the EF0 tornado with 85 mph winds touched down in Ronkonkoma on Tuesday night.</p>

News 12 Staff

Oct 3, 2018, 9:44 AM

Updated 2,033 days ago

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News 12 Digital is highlighting the most-viewed stories of 2018 as part of our 'News 12's Most-Viewed' series. This story on a tornado in Ronkonkoma was originally posted on Oct. 3. Original story below.
Residents in Ronkonkoma spent the day assessing the damage after an EF0 tornado with 85 mph winds touched down late Tuesday night. 
Officials say the tornado wove a 400-yard path between 11:20 p.m. and 11:22 p.m. Tuesday causing damage near Iroquois and Seneca streets.
Crews were on site cutting up multiple trees that had toppled over onto residents’ fences and homes. Residents in the area lost power after the storm, but it has since been restored. 
Ross Stickman, of the National Weather Service, called the storm a “quick spin up” that evolved out of a strong thunderstorm. He also said it was rare for a tornado to strike in October in a residential area.
“We did have a very warm, very unstable air mass across the area yesterday, and with the cold front that came through...it was enough to produce this severe weather," said Stickman.
The two-minute storm caused plenty of damage, but no injuries have been reported.
News 12 meteorologists say the areas of Holbrook and Centereach were also impacted by strong winds and heavy rains Tuesday night.


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