HOWELL, NJ Patch.com—(June 24, 2017) The National Weather Service has confirmed that two tornadoes touched down during Saturday morning's severe storm. see Video below
The worst of the damage was centered around the Route 9/West Farms Road area, police said, with Ideal Plaza and the Home Depot receiving "considerable damage," police said.
The weather service said the first tornado was the one seen in the now widely circulated video taken by Brett M. Dzadik at the Home Depot. That tornado touched down at 7:21 a.m., rated an EF-0, had wind speeds of up to 75 mph and a path of about 40 yards wide for about a half-mile, the service said.
The second tornado, also an EF-0, touched down at 7:27 a.m. and also had maximum winds of 75 mph, the weather service said. That tornado caused the damage seen at Oak Glen Park, and traveled about three-tenths of a mile with a path about 25 yards wide, the service said.
The tornadoes were spawned by a severe line of thunderstorms that dumped heavy rain across much of New Jersey early Saturday morning. In addition to the Howell tornadoes, a microburst caused damage to buildings and trees in Browns Mills, Pemberton Township, the weather service said.
Howell police, in a post on Facebook, said the winds from the storm lifted two occupied cars into each other in a parking lot, and multiple downed trees forced the closure of Oak Glen Park.
The worst of the damage was centered around the Route 9/West Farms Road area, police said, with Ideal Plaza and the Home Depot receiving "considerable damage," police said.
The weather service said the storm survey found several trees uprooted and snapped in the Home Depot parking lot where the tornado had approximately touched down. The tornado tore metal roofing from the Chase Bank that was later found a half-mile away. The tornado uprooted trees at the southbound jughandle on Route 9 and West Farms Road, and at Ideal Plaza. A large metal container for clothing donations was knocked over. Three cars that were parked in the shopping center parking lot at the time the tornado moved through were pushed into each other. The tornado caused roofing and siding damage to the building occupied by Ice Cream on Route 9. A fence and additional trees were downed on the property as well. The cloth draping on a nearby billboard sign was torn off.
The tornado likely dissipated shortly after, the weather service said.
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