Aug 10, 2012 Noon Update

6:10 PM Update: The NWS confirmed that one of the earlier tornado warned storms did produce a tornado, EF0, near Great River north to Ronkonkoma in Suffolk county, Long Island. More information can be found in the NWS Public Information Statement.

5:30 PM: Earlier this afternoon, a line of strong to severe storms moved through most of the area except for northwestern parts of NYC and eastern NE NJ, affecting the rest of the area with heavy rain above 1 inch, locally as high as 2-4 inches. The most notable storms took place in Long Island and CT, however, with two tornado warnings issued in Long Island; the first near East Islip, and the second near eastern Suffolk county. So far, no tornado has been confirmed yet. Once the line of severe storms moved into Connecticut, however, a remarkably impressive feature developed east of Hartford, CT, almost resembling a tiny hurricane-like system while producing strong winds. This feature can be seen on the regional radar from 4:38 PM posted to the left, over Connecticut.

Behind the early afternoon storms, the latest regional radar does not show much storm activity outside of western NY/PA and far NE West Virginia. Additional thunderstorms are expected to develop towards central PA/NY, with scattered storms reaching the area as well, although the widespread heavy storms originally in the forecast for tonight and Saturday are no longer expected. Instead, scattered storms are expected to continue through Saturday, with some storms especially tonight capable of producing locally heavy rain.

This is the last update for today. The next forecast discussion will be posted on Saturday.