Tornado touched down in Rhode Island during Tuesday’s storm

A tornado touched down in Lincoln, Rhode Island during Tuesday’s storm, the National Weather Service has confirmed. 

The National Weather Service made the determination based on reported damage in the region, including downed trees. 

Tuesday’s storm brought numerous showers and hail to New England. 

Survey crews will be in the region Wednesday to determine further details. 

Additionally, the National Weather Service will investigate in North Providence, Rhode Island. 

Further north in Massachusetts, residents reported seeing a strong rotation in the waters of the Cape Cod Bay. After examining photos and videos of the rotation, National Weather Service officials say it was likely a waterspout. 

“A waterspout is a whirling column of air and water mist,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says of the weather phenomenon. Waterspouts fall into two categories: fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts.

The latter are tornadoes formed over water or that move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado and are often strong winds, large hail and frequent lightning. 

Fair weather waterspouts are not generally associated with thunderstorms, forming in light wind conditions so they move little. “While tornadic waterspouts develop downward in a thunderstorm, a fair weather waterspout develops on the surface of the water and works its way upward,” the NOAA says. “By the time the funnel is visible, a fair weather waterspout is near maturity.”

A tornado warning is issued by the local National Weather Service office if a waterspout moves onshore.