Hail, Passaic
- When
- September 7, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Passaic County, West Milford
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.130, -74.380
Tornadoes and Hail in New Jersey, September 7, 1998
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.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $5.0 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 12
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 OKX wrote it up.
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.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
6 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Essex
- When
- September 7, 1:10 PM EST
- Where
- Essex County, Millburn
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.720, -74.320
Thunderstorm Wind, Essex
- When
- September 7, 1:10 PM EST to 1:20 PM EST
- Where
- Essex County, Millburn to Newark
- Measured
- 64 kt (74 mph)
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.720, -74.320
Thunderstorm Wind, Union
- When
- September 7, 1:15 PM EST to 1:20 PM EST
- Where
- Union County, Linden Arpt to Rahway
- Measured
- 63 kt (72 mph)
- Property damage
- $3.0 million
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.620, -74.250
Hail, Union
- When
- September 7, 1:20 PM EST
- Where
- Union County, Mountainside to Roselle
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.670, -74.350
Thunderstorm Wind, Bergen
- When
- September 7, 1:25 PM EST
- Where
- Bergen County, Bergenfield
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.920, -74.080
Hail, Hudson
- When
- September 7, 1:25 PM EST
- Where
- Hudson County, Union City
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.770, -74.050
Tornado, Union
- When
- September 7, 1:27 PM EST
- Where
- Union County, Plainfield to Scotch Plains
- Measured
- 63
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.2 mi
- Path width
- 30 yd
- Property damage
- $1.5 million
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 40.620, -74.430
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.
Thunderstorm Wind, Passaic
- When
- September 7, 1:27 PM EST
- Where
- Passaic County, Clifton
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 40.870, -74.150
Thunderstorm Wind, Essex
- When
- September 7, 1:30 PM EST
- Where
- Essex County, Orange to Newark
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.750, -74.230
Tornado, Union
- When
- September 7, 1:35 PM EST
- Where
- Union County, Clark
- Measured
- 96
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.2 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $550,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 40.630, -74.320
An F1 tornado occurred across Northcentral Clark. There was significant damage to large trees. A narrow path of large trees were sheared off more than midway down their trunks near the Cali Center at 100 Walnut Avenue. The Mayor of Clark estimated that the township lost at least 150 trees. Based on radar signatures and eyewitness reports, wind gusts were estimated at 110 mph.
Thunderstorm Wind, Hudson
- When
- September 7, 1:40 PM EST
- Where
- Hudson County, Harrison
- Measured
- 57 kt (66 mph)
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.750, -74.170
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- 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
- Tropical Storm in Texas, September 7 to 12, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in New York, September 7, 1998
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, September 7, 1998
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, September 7, 1998
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, September 7, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, September 7 to 26, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, September 7, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, September 7, 1998
- Flash Flood and Hail in Pennsylvania, September 7 to 27, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, September 7, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, September 7, 1998
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, September 7, 1998
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for New Jersey, 1998Warnings in New Jersey, September 1998
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: 5668766, 5668767, 5668768, 5668769, 5669604, 5669607, 5669608, 5669605, 5669611, 5669609, 5669606, 5669610.