Tornado Watch Issued Till 8 p.m. for Fairfield, Westchester Counties [Update]

Update: 10:40 p.m.

Fairfield County got off easy, with nary a blast of thunder resounding from the radio forebodings of a torando watch which grumbled through the thick and humid air stagnating below an overcast, afternoon sky.

But Springfield, Massachusettes suffered horrible damages today, June 1, the city smashed and ravaged by winds from several twisters which have caused at least four deaths, the Huffington Post reports. The Huffington Post reported that the tornadoes touched down at about 4:20 in the afternoon. The same article reports that about 26,000 people were without power.

The featured video is from Enfield Patch and is a city-scape view of one of the tornaodes which touched down. The other attached video is from Norwalk Patch, and is purportedly a street view of a twister howling in the distance in Springfield, taken earlier today.

At around noon, the National Weather Service had issued a tornado watch for Wilton and the rest of Fairfield County through 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1.

Update 2:37 p.m.:

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office issued this tweet on Twitter at 2:30 p.m.: "Gov Malloy & state agency officials are continuing to monitor possibility of severe weather in #CT throughout the afternoon & evening"

Update 2:16 p.m.:

Dick Aarons, Director of Ridgefield's Office of Emergency management, defined a tornado watch:

"A 'tornado watch' is issued when atmospheric conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms capable of  producing tornadoes in and close to the watch area in the next 12 hours.

"A 'tornado warning' is issued when radar or human eyeballs spot a tornado.

"So, right now, the watch only means strong thunderstorms -- perhaps strong enough to produce a tornado -- are possible sometime during the watch period."

Update 2:08 p.m.:

A Tornado Watch has been issued by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK, for all of Fairfield and Westchester counties, along with much of the Tri-state Area, through 8 p.m.

The affected counties are: New Haven County in Connecticut as well as Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties north of New York City, all boroughs of New York City itself, Nassau County on Long Island and several counties in northern New Jersey.

The National Weather Service's prediction for Greenwich (as of 1:49 p.m.) forecast "likely" showers and thunderstorms, with the possibility that "some storms could be severe, with damaging winds."

The meteorologists forecast a high temperature of 88 degrees for the day, with southwest winds of about 15 mph. The chance of precipitation was expected to be 60 percent, with new rainfall of less than a tenth of an inch, although thunderstorms might drop more than that.