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EF1 tornado in Mercer County, New Jersey

Tornado April 1, 2023 · Mercer County, New Jersey

EF1
Rating
2.7 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Mercer County → Burlington County → Burlington County → Mercer County → Monmouth County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

After a straight line wind event upstream toward Bordentown along Ward Avenue, a QLCS tornado developed in the village of Crosswicks around 7:08 PM EDT. Much of the damage in Crosswicks was primarily tree damage with numerous trees uprooted or snapped. Additional straight line wind damage occurred south of the village that was not directly related to the tornadic circulation. The tornado moved east out of the village just north of Ellisdale Road where fairly significant tree damage continued on

residential properties. The tornado moved into an inaccessible wooded area along Crosswicks Creek where it crossed into Hamilton Twp in Mercer County. It emerged along a tree line near the back of the Sawmill YMCA property where it continued east toward the intersection of Sawmill Road and Iron Bridge Road. Near this intersection, several trees were uprooted.

The tornado continued east along Sawmill Road toward Extonville Road where additional trees were uprooted. The tornado dissipated in a field around 7:11 PM EDT east of Extonville Road where it crossed just over the Monmouth County boarder into Upper Freehold Twp. No additional tornadic damage was observed east of this field across Ellisdale Road until the next tornado began near Walnford Road.

The wider storm

A strong cold front approached the region, with a line of strong showers and thunderstorms developing out ahead of the front. Storms produced damaging winds, multiple tornadoes, and small to medium-sized hail in New Jersey.

Began near North Crosswicks (40.1498, -74.6309).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

6 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1104149. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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