Photo: Shutterstock The National Weather Service (NWS) in New York has confirmed that a tornado touched down in Atlantic Beach in southern Nassau County on August 20, 2026, after a waterspout approached the shoreline.
According to a Public Information Statement issued by the NWS at 8:20 am EDT today, August 21, the agency and emergency management partners are continuing to review damage, ground truth and radar data connected to one or possibly two waterspouts that approached the southern shoreline of the far eastern Rockaways and the Atlantic Beach area.
Based on radar data and videos and photographs received by officials, the NWS determined that a waterspout likely paralleled the far southeastern portion of the Rockaway near the mouth of the East Rockaway Inlet.
The waterspout then came ashore as a tornado in the far western end of Atlantic Beach between approximately 6:30 and 7:00 pm on August 20.
The National Weather Service said several pieces of evidence allowed it to confirm the tornadic touchdown. These included radar data, video showing the waterspout coming onshore and damage reports in the vicinity of the Sun and Surf Beach Club in Atlantic Beach.
The NWS is also examining another circulation detected by radar approximately one mile further east.
According to the agency, this circulation could have spawned a waterspout that moved toward shore in the Atlantic Beach and Five Towns area of far southwestern Nassau County.