The National Weather Service confirmed that at least three small tornadoes touched down in New Jersey Thursday, during the series of powerful thunderstorms that swept across the region.
An EF0 tornado, marked by wind speeds over 65 mph, touched down in Essex County, where it severely damaged a home and uprooted trees in Verona.
The weather agency confirmed two other tornadoes touched down in southern Ocean County, in Waretown and Barnegat Township.
The one Barnegat twister was rated an EF1 –meaning wind speeds from 86 to 110 mph –and the Waretown tornado, which was originally rated an EF1, was later determined to be an EF2, with peaks winds wind speeds from 111 to 135 mph.
On Friday, National Weather Service officials confirmed that two more tornadoes had touched down Thursday – an EF1 in Plumstead Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and an EF2 near New Hope, Pennsylvania, that moved across the Delaware River to Mercer County.
At least five survey teams are still checking damage left behind as the storms crossed New Jersey from the Delaware River to the shore.
Strong winds downed trees and power lines near Trenton and Hopewell in Mercer County. There also were reports of wind, rain and hail damage in Ocean County’s Lakehurst and in Burlington County’s Willingboro and Mount Holly.
There were no reports of injuries although weather forecasters issued 12 tornado warnings for New Jersey on Thursday.
New Jersey experienced three previous tornados in July, according to the National Weather Service. Two touched down in Little Egg Harbor in Ocean County and Woodbine in Cape May County as as Tropical Storm Elsa hit the region, and another tornado was on the ground in Burlington County on July 17.