Virginia Beach struck by tornado; cooler temps in Midwest, Northeast: Monday weather updates
Residents in coastal Virginia are assessing damage and cleaning up Monday after an EF-3 tornado struck the area on Sunday, impacting more than 100 homes and businesses. No injuries have been reported.
A tornado was confirmed Sunday in Virginia Beach, landing about three hours after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area. It followed a day after an EF-2 tornado touched down in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, that resulted in damaged homes, flipped vehicles and snapped trees.
Early reports included downed trees in the Great Neck area, including trees falling on a house and a vehicle, Virginia Beach city officials tweeted. The city's fire department also tweeted that crews were responding to "multiple calls" of major storm damage and "reports of multiple homes with gas leaks."
Three schools were closed Monday.
Meanwhile, warm weather fans across the Midwest and Northeast won’t have much to celebrate as the new month brings in colder temperatures.
The last day of April brought heavy rain across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and warmer weather across the West. But the start of May will bring below-average temperatures across the country.
Here's what to know about the national weather forecast and news for Monday.
Virginia Beach assesses damage after tornado rips through
Virginia Beach declared a state of emergency after a tornado moved through the area Sunday and damaged dozens of homes, downed trees and caused gas leaks.
City officials said it’s unclear how many homes had been damaged, but they estimated 50 to 100 after the tornado touched down just after 6 p.m., WTKR-TV reported.
Virginia Natural Gas responded to several homes with gas leaks, and Dominion Energy reported just under 1,000 outages early Monday.
The final day of the Something in the Water festival in Virginia Beach was canceled Sunday.
Colder temperatures across the Midwest, East Coast
A storm over the Great Lakes will lead to below-average temperatures and rain from the Midwest to the East Coast, the National Weather Service said.
"This pattern will consistently keep high temperatures 5 to 20 degrees below the historical average in places such as Detroit, Chicago, and Pittsburgh," AccuWeather Meteorologist La Troy Thornton said.
Strong winds as high as 45 mph were possible on Monday across the Upper Midwest from Minnesota to western Illinois, the weather service said.
The cool weather may last until the end of the week.
Cooler weather on the West Coast
After record-breaking temperatures along the West Coast in April, cooler weather and rain will return.
Temperatures in Seattle and Portland will be in the lower 60s after reaching the 80s last week. And San Francisco and Fresno could see rain and thunderstorms Tuesday.
"As the storm dives southward across the California coast, thunderstorms may accompany the showers in Central California. Storms may even produce small hail," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.
Scattered showers, thunderstorms and high-elevation snow will also be possible across the West and northern/central Rockies during the start of May, the weather service said.
US weather watches and warnings
National weather radar
Contributing: Terry Collins, USA TODAY; Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virginia Beach tornado, cooler temperatures across US: Weather news
