Video: Big Hail, Lightning, And Tornado Warning Hit NYC Area, With More Expected Today

Wow, did you catch the show last night? Did your cat watch intently at the window, black dinner-plate eyes ablaze and mouth slightly agape, as The Weather went full transformer explosion and cracked the sky with spidery electric currents? We knew going into the evening that the situation would likely be intense, what with the chance twister potential and all, but dang, what a spectacle. Some of you may have received an actual tornado warning on your phones, commanding you to "take shelter NOW." [Emphasis mine.] Some of you may have dodged tortellini-sized hail chunks during your emergency bodega run, to buy flashlights of course.

Some of you may have snoozed peacefully throughout, and to you I say: Check out this compilation video, a mash-up of various impressive sky fires seen over the Upper East Side last night. You'll feel like you were there!

Need more?

Hell yeah.

Lightning strikes, maybe once, maybe twice:

While the specter of urban cyclones loomed large—particularly in Staten Island—the National Weather Service does not believe any actually touched down in NYC. Hold your sigh of immense relief, though, because we are still in the shit. Conditions outside may seem relatively calm, if somewhat muggy, but this quiet spell looks likely to break break soon. The NWS is already out there, forecasting more hail, punishing winds (projected windspeed: a freakish 58 MPH, i.e. "violent storm" on the Beaufort Scale), and, sorry, the renewed possibility of an "isolated tornado."

Let's break down the forecast: Right now, it's mostly cloudy, about 68 degrees, breezy, and humid. Revel in that for the next few hours, because the NWS expects we might see more rain as early as 2 p.m. Precipitation potential could jump up sharply around 4, though, with heavy rain and thunder likely. Also, the sky might basically just be black?? We're looking at a projected 95 percent cloud cover by 5 p.m., friends. Keep in mind that the sun officially sets after 8 p.m. today, at which point we're looking at 99 percent cloud cover.

It won't be like that forever, probably just until around 11 p.m., but unfortunately, Thursday's trajectory looks eerily familiar: Rain and possible thunderstorms throughout most of the day, into Friday, with temps in the 60s and 70s. Things could dry out on Friday afternoon and Saturday, but don't even talk to me about Sunday, because it seems like a return to rain. Anyway, in conclusion, consider this your regular reminder that thunder only happens when it's raining, and I'll see you back here tomorrow for a storm damage recap.