Alert archive / New Jersey / Tornado Warnings in 2026

Tornado Warning 2, NWS New York, NY

July 21, 2026Essex County, New Jersey

NWS New York, NY issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 2026, 2:56 PM EDT for Essex County, New Jersey. It was in force for 34 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 21, 2026, 2:56 PM EDT (18:56 UTC)
Expired: Jul 21, 2026, 3:30 PM EDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS New York, NY
Area: Storm-based polygon
Tornado: Radar indicated
Hail: 0.75 in

County Essex County, NJ

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:58 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 21, 2:06 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 120 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1211 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 172 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

180 
WFUS51 KOKX 211856
TOROKX
NJC013-211930-
/O.NEW.KOKX.TO.W.0002.260721T1856Z-260721T1930Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service New York NY
256 PM EDT Tue Jul 21 2026

The National Weather Service in Upton NY has issued a

* Tornado Warning for...
  Northwestern Essex County in northeastern New Jersey...

* Until 330 PM EDT.

* At 256 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
  was located over Fairfield, or near Caldwell, moving east at 25
  mph.

  HAZARD...Tornado.

  SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.

  IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without 
           shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. 
           Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur.  Tree 
           damage is likely.

* This dangerous storm will be near...
  Caldwell and Fairfield around 300 PM EDT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest
floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a
mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter
and protect yourself from flying debris.

Motorists should not take shelter under highway overpasses. If you
cannot safely drive away from the tornado, as a last resort, either
park your vehicle and stay put, or abandon your vehicle and lie down
in a low lying area and protect yourself from flying debris.

&&

LAT...LON 4090 7434 4091 7433 4091 7429 4089 7428
      4090 7427 4089 7427 4088 7426 4088 7424
      4086 7420 4085 7422 4083 7433 4085 7433
      4086 7432 4087 7434
TIME...MOT...LOC 1856Z 261DEG 23KT 4088 7432 

TORNADO...RADAR INDICATED
MAX HAIL SIZE...<.75 IN

$$

DW

The office that day

Everything else NWS New York, NY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 21, 8:34 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	OKX	Passaic	41 min
Jul 21, 9:09 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	OKX	Passaic	3 hr
Jul 21, 10:15 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OKX	Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic	60 min
Jul 21, 10:19 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	OKX	Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic	115 min
Jul 21, 10:25 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	OKX	Bergen, Essex, Passaic	108 min
Jul 21, 2:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OKX	Bergen, Essex, Passaic	47 min
Jul 21, 2:49 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	OKX	Bergen, Passaic	26 min
Jul 21, 3:07 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	OKX	Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic	3 hr
Jul 21, 3:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	OKX	Essex, Passaic	30 min
Jul 21, 3:31 PM EDT	River Flood Warning	OKX	Bergen	7 hr
Jul 21, 3:38 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	OKX	Bergen	3 hr
Jul 21, 4:04 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	OKX	Hudson	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Jersey, 2026 Every tornado warning in 2026 Tornadoes in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.