Tornado in New Jersey, September 8, 1996

Name: Tornado in New Jersey, September 8, 1996
Start: 1996-09-08T14:15
End: 1996-09-08T14:15
Location: New Jersey

September 8, 1996 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An F0 tornado briefly touched down in East Brunswick and damaged three buildings in "The Courts" Condominium Complex. An eight foot by twenty-five foot section of a roof was pulled from one building.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

An F0 tornado briefly touched down in East Brunswick and damaged three buildings in "The Courts" Condominium Complex. An eight foot by twenty-five foot section of a roof was pulled from one building. The chimney was knocked down from another building and damaged a third. About 45 families were made homeless by the damage. Elsewhere in East Brunswick the thunderstorm produced damaging wind gusts at the Lawrence Brook School. The winds damaged the school's roof and shattered windows. Some roof damage also occurred at the Miracle Mall. Several trees were also uprooted throughout the township. Tornado damage was estimated at $10,000.

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:16 UTC.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Middlesex

When: September 8, 2:15 PM EST
Where: Middlesex County, East Brunswick
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 40 yd
Property damage: $10,000
Coordinates: 40.450, -74.400

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history The tornado archive for New Jersey, 1996 Warnings in New Jersey, September 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5580584.