F0 Tornado — Union, New Jersey

1998-09-07 · near Plainfield, Union, New Jersey

Event narrative

An F0 tornado touched down in a highly populated residential area from Northern Plainfield east across Southern Scotch Plains. Signs of rotation were evident in damage to trees and eyewitness reports included the sighting of funnel clouds. The Mayor of Plainfield estimated that the township lost at least 95 trees.

Wider weather episode

An intense line of severe thunderstorms oriented from north to south developed during Labor Day afternoon ahead of a strong approaching cold front. As the storms moved east at 40 to 50 mph, they produced high winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes. Wind gusts from 60 to 80 mph combined with hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter caused damage to houses (roofs and gutters), trees, and power lines across the region. The cost estimates of damage included above are preliminary figures submitted by the Union County Office of Emergency Management.In Essex County, the following peak wind gusts were reported: 74 mph at West Orange and 68 mph in Millburn. High winds downed trees in Newark.In Union County, the following peak wind gusts were reported: 72 mph in Roselle, 71 mph in Garwood, 70 mph in Mountainside, and 69 mph in Elizabeth. High winds caused a Tommy Hilfiger Blimp to break loose from its' mooring at Linden Airport. When it struck a power line, the blimp was destroyed. Officials said it may cost up to $8M to fix. Small planes also toppled over at Linden Airport. A trailer was overturned in Linden. High winds also caused a tree to fall into and damage a house on Church Street in Rahway. Preliminary cost damage estimates for Rahway range from $700K to $1M based on newspaper articles. The combination of high winds and large hail damaged roofs and gutters in Roselle. Large hail also fell: 1.75-inch in diameter at Union City, 1.25-inch in diameter was reported at both Mountainside and Garwood and 1.00-inch in diameter was reported in Roselle.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.6200, -74.4300)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5669605. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.