See the waterspout video below
After severe thunderstorms rocked parts of the region last night, a heat wave will begin today and continue at least through the weekend. A Heat Advisory has been issued for much of the area.
A severe thunderstorm produced a waterspout over the Hudson River in Dutchess County yesterday afternoon, the National Weather Service in Albany has confirmed. A waterspout is a tornado over the water. Instead of sucking up dirt and debris, the tornado is filled with water. It produces the same wind and outcome since it is still in fact a tornado.
The waterspout was confirmed at 5:35pm one mile southeast of Port Ewen, located just offshore of the Town of Ulster Park. This is roughly halfway between the Mid-Hudson Bridge and Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge.
Although the storms mostly missed Orange County, they wreaked havoc around other portions of the area. The Taconic State Parkway was flooded out and closed in Westchester County. Emergency services rescued numerous motorists from their vehicles as they became stranded in rapidly rising flash flood waters on many different highways throughout Westchester, northern New Jersey, and Long Island.
Today’s temperatures today are forecast to rise into the low 90s across Orange County.
Tomorrow, conditions are expected to be even warmer and more humid. A Heat Advisory is in effect from 12:00pm to 8:00pm tomorrow as temperatures rise to 95 degrees with heat index values reaching around 100 degrees.
Temperatures are forecast to continue reaching the low to mid 90s through at least Sunday. It is likely the Heat Advisory will be extended beyond tomorrow.