LOWVILLE — Tornadoes touched down in the North Country on Monday evening after a National Weather Service alert sounded on cellphones advising of the danger.

At 8:20 p.m. after sounding tornado warnings for central Jefferson County, Lewis County and farther south, the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado “was located near Whetstone Gulf State Park, or 14 miles north of Boonville, moving northeast at 30 miles per hour,” the alert stated.

The areas impacted by flying debris and damage were said to be the towns of Watson, Martinsburg, Lyonsdale and Greig and the villages of Port Leyden, Croghan, Lyons Falls, Constableville and Turin, although that impact could not be confirmed.

That warning was extended again until 8:45 p.m.

With the tornado touchdown confirmed, the Weather Service’s warning became more emphatic, from the “take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building,” to “A tornado is on the ground. TAKE COVER NOW! (Their emphasis)”

The earlier warning emphasized the Carthage, West Carthage, Fort Drum and Lake Bonaparte areas and there were social media accounts, including video footage, of low, dark clouds with what appeared to be spouts forming that never fully touched the ground. Those were viewed from near Carthage Central High School and Deer River among other locations at about 6:20 p.m., not long after the Weather Service warning came through.

The tornado warning for eastern central Jefferson County and northern Lewis County began at 6 p.m. and was extended twice up to 7:45 p.m.

By about 9 p.m., the Weather Service had replaced the tornado warning for southern Lewis County with a flash-flood warning that will remain in place until 1:15 a.m. Tuesday.

As of 10 p.m. Monday, National Grid’s power outage map indicated more then 5,100 customers in Lewis County were without power.