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F0 tornado in Burlington County, New Jersey

Tornado October 27, 2003 · Burlington County, New Jersey

F0
Rating
0.5 mi
Path length
30 yd
Path width
1
Death
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F0 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F0 meant light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken; the scale paired it with winds of 40–72 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

A weak tornado (F0 on the Fujita Scale) touched down in a wooded area between Marne Highway and the Holly Bowl bowling alley in Hainesport Township. It moved east and lifted just before crossing New Jersey State Route 38. The tornado snapped large tree limbs and tossed them. A nine inch wide limb was tossed about 100 feet and struck and killed a 77-year-old woman who was about to enter her vehicle in the Holly Bowl parking lot. She suffered massive head trauma and spinal cord injuries. The same limb damaged her and two neighboring vehicles. The tornado caused small damage to the bowling alley's roof, smashed a fence and toppled a couple of light standards. It was the first tornado related death in New Jersey since August 25, 1941 in Gloucester County. The tornado was on the ground for about a half mile and its maximum path width was 30 yards. The strongest speed of the tornado was estimated at 70 mph.

Began near Hainesport (39.9833, -74.8333).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5371873. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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