A storm survey team from the National Weather Service has confirmed a small tornado touched down Friday afternoon when a strong thunderstorm was sweeping across a neighborhood in Atlantic County in southern New Jersey.
The twister classified as an EF-0 tornado, approximately 25 yards wide, produced wind speeds between 65 and 75 miles per hour and stayed on the ground for around half a mile, according to the weather service late Friday.
A tornado classified as an EF-0 is the least severe category on the six-tier rating system employed by meteorological services.
The small twister touched down in the Collings Lakes section of Buena Vista Township at 12:52 p.m. and lifted back up about a minute later, the weather service said.
“The first damage was noted along Malaga Road, where large branches were downed and some metal roof sheeting was peeled off an outbuilding,” the agency noted.
“The weather service reported persistent damage, primarily consisting of fallen large limbs, continuing around the junction of Cains Mill Road and Colton Lane. The most recent documented destruction along this route was close to the crossing of Cloverdale Lane and Wiltshire Drive.”
Further down Cains Mill Road, additional scattered tree damage was observed in other southern sections; however, the meteorological services concluded that this destruction resulted from straight-line winds associated with a thunderstorm rather than being caused by a tornado.
On Friday during the late morning, three tornado warnings were issued in South Jersey, and the meteorological service received accounts of a "potential twister" in the Buena Vista Township area of Atlantic County.
Photos showed a large tree that had crashed through the roof of a house in the Collings Lakes neighborhood, but it wasn’t immediately clear if that damage was a direct result of the tornado or a thunderstorm.
In a rare step, the National Weather Service issued a new severe thunderstorm watch On Friday afternoon, nine counties that were previously covered by a thunderstorm watch and several storm warnings throughout the day experienced these conditions.
The updated thunderstorm warning now includes Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Ocean, and Salem counties. This alert will be valid until midnight on Friday.
The timepiece was triggered as a precaution against a anticipated surge of intense thunderstorms set to move through southern and central New Jersey on Friday evening into the nighttime hours.
Given the elevated moisture levels and atmospheric instability, these thunderstorms could bring strong wind gusts, recurring lightning strikes, and hailstones as large as ping-pong balls, meteorologists warned. Forecasters also cannot dismiss the possibility of an occasional tornado, stated both the National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center.
Current weather radar
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality .
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