Northeast hit with tornadoes, damaging wind gusts

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 gusty winds as well as a few 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 the clash of air masses and instability was enough to trigger the eruption of storms that developed over the Buckeye State and moved their way through the Interstate 95 Corridor.

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 Tri-State were the hardest hit, with at least one observed 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.

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.

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

In addition to the reported tornadoes, the National Weather Service received several witness accounts of dime-sized hail from southern Pennsylvania through Delaware and a 98-mph wind gust was observed by a local weather reading site.

Gusty winds knocked power out to thousands

The combination of storms and gusty winds associated with the frontal boundary 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 decrease on Sunday as the potent front makes its way off the Eastern Seaboard.