Sgt. Ira Promisel, the state trooper who survived the terrifying winds of a tornado that blew through central Westchester County and tossed his patrol car around like a child’s toy, said it was an experience he will never forget.

“The power of nature is just unreal,” he said today. “It picked up the car as if it were nothing.”

The ordeal happened at 3:50 p.m. in Hawthorne. It probably lasted no more than two or three seconds but Parmisel noted that time has a habit of slowing down during traumatic events. Though he knew he was in grave danger, he remained calm throughout and was even fascinated by what was happening to him.

The dark clouds, rain and the blowing of overhead electrical wire were all ominous signs that something bad was about to happen. He said he could feel a sudden change in air pressure. A recreational scuba diver, Promisel, 38, likened it to the sensantion of being submerged under water.

The tornado was frightfully loud, he said, not unlike a rushing locomotive or running horses.

The twister gripped his car, a 2006 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor and flipped it over on its back. Then it spun it around lifted it and propelled it ontom some grass, about 10 feet from its original position on the road.

Two alert Con Edison workers, Brendon McNamara, 37 and Joe Szela, 52, saw the whole thing happen from their utility truck which was parked a few yards away. Promisel credited them for coming to his rescue. They pulled him out of the police car, which was totaled.

Promisel, who had minor injuries, told me that wearing a seatbelt probably saved his life.

He is the father of four-year-old triplets who he said were at a daycare center only a few miles from where the tornado hit in Hawthonrne. Carmel Promisel, his wife of eight years, said she was relieved that he escaped a much worse fate.

“I feel very happy and very lucky,” she said.