A possible hurricane hits Rhode Island and Connecticut

The National Weather Service said a tornado likely touched down in parts of southern New England, as the region faced rain and flooding Wednesday afternoon.

The agency’s office is in southern New England he said late Wednesday On X, formerly Twitter, its staff planned to survey damage from the storms in Connecticut and Rhode Island early Thursday. She added that preliminary radar data and video evidence indicate that a tornado has occurred in the area.

Preliminary reports indicate no one was injured, and between 60 and 80 trees were down or had their tops cut off, meteorologist Bryce Williams said by phone early Thursday.

Mr. Williams said it was possible that more than one tornado tore through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts on Wednesday. He said storm surveyors will look to see if damaged trees have been twisted out of shape — a sign of damage caused by “hurricane” winds rather than “straight line” winds.

Officially confirming hurricanes is useful for meteorological record keeping, but hurricane winds are not necessarily more dangerous.

“There’s kind of a myth among the general public that all strong wind damage comes from tornadoes,” Mr. Williams said. “But that’s not true. Straight winds can cause the same amount of damage or more.”

He said the storm system that caused heavy rain and flooding in New England this week is linked to a low pressure system in the Great Lakes region and is not related to Hurricane Lee, a Category 2 hurricane that was more than 300 miles southwest of the New England state. Bermuda early Thursday morning.

But as Lee continues to move north, dangerous rip and rip currents affecting the Southeast are expected to affect New England over the next two days, the weather service said in its forecast Wednesday. There will also be an increased risk of more rain, wind and coastal flooding, she added.

More than seven million people in coastal New England were under a tropical storm watch as dawn approached Thursday, the National Weather Service said. A tornado watch was also in effect for more than 100,000 Maine residents.

Scientists have not yet been able to determine the relationship between climate change and the frequency or strength of hurricanes. But researchers say tornadoes appear to be occurring in larger groups in recent years, and that the area of ​​the country known as Tornado Alley, the area where most tornadoes occur, appears to be moving eastward.

Mr. Williams said he was not aware of any relevant pattern in the part of New England where he monitors the weather. He said that this year his region witnessed eight confirmed hurricanes. Last year there was none.