NWS Says Seven Tornadoes Hit New Jersey, Pennsylvania During Storm

Seven tornados tore through parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey during last Wednesday night’s storm, including an EF-3 that damaged homes and businesses in the Garden State, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters said surveys of storm damage indicated that the EF-3 with estimated peak wind speeds of 150 mph touched down in Harrisonville in Gloucester County shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday and traveled more than 12 1/2 miles to a point near Deptford.

Officials said the tornado damaged homes in two subdivisions, tearing roofs and upper story walls off, collapsing exterior walls and tossing vehicles around. The storm also hit a commercial farm and a dairy, destroying barns and other buildings and toppling two silos.

An EF-2 with winds up to 130 mph traveled eight miles from Fort Washington to Horsham in Pennsylvania damaged or destroyed roofs of homes and high school and university buildings, killing a woman when a tree fell on her home, the weather service said.

Another EF-2 storm with winds up to 115 mph that traveled almost 7 miles from East Nottingham Township to Oxford, Pennsylvania damaged homes and commercial buildings and flipped a recreational trailer onto its side, forecasters said.

Forecasters said EF-1 tornados occurred in Doylestown and Buckingham Township, Pennsylvania and in Upper Makefield Township, Pennsylvania. Another EF-1 with winds to 90 mph traveled from Burlington Township, New Jersey to Bristol, Pennsylvania. Forecasters noted “a rather impressive viral Tweet with a video of the tornado passing across the Burlington-Bristol Bridge” but noted no damage was seen along the bridge. There was also an EF-0 tornado in West Windsor Township, New Jersey.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm New Jersey Pennsylvania