NWS Confirms 2 Tornadoes In Howell: See The Video

HOWELL, NJ — (Updated, 11:15 p.m. June 24, 2017) The National Weather Service has confirmed that two tornadoes touched down during Saturday morning's severe storm.

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.

The Oak Glen Park tornado was determined from a large pine tree on one side of the soccer field that was snapped toward the base of the trunk and several large metal trash cans were pushed over, with all of these damage indicators facing to the southeast. On the other side of the soccer field, numerous hardwood trees were uprooted, falling to the northeast. There were additional downed trees in the park as the storm moved southeast before quickly dissipating.

Home Depot is where Dzadik was attempting to wait out the storm when he captured video of the tornado (see below). At the 1:13 mark of the video, the outlines of the funnel are visible through the downpour (be forewarned, the video contains profanity).

The National Weather Service Mount Holly office, on its Facebook page, said a tornado warning was issued for Monmouth, Camden and Gloucester counties about 6:45 a.m. and at 7 a.m., said Doppler radar had detected rotation, urging those in far southern Somerset and northern Monmouth to seek shelter.

The storm caused scattered power outages that Jersey Central Power & Light crews are working to repair, but police said there were no reported injuries.

"The National Weather Service would like to thank Monmouth County and Howell Emergency Management and the Howell Police Department for their assistance," the service said.

Watch the video below; viewer discretion suggested for profanity.

Main photo by CJ Longo, used with permission