A strong tornado (F2 on the Fujita Scale) struck extreme northern Manalapan and extreme southwest Marlboro Townships. Four houses had severe roof damage and about a dozen others suffered minor damage.
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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.
The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.
A strong tornado (F2 on the Fujita Scale) struck extreme northern Manalapan and extreme southwest Marlboro Townships. Four houses had severe roof damage and about a dozen others suffered minor damage. A construction trailer was tossed and two vehicles were overturned. Between 150 and 200 trees were either uprooted or damaged. Tree damage was so extensive that Hawkins Road Park was closed. The area was littered with broken pieces of wood, shingles, gutters and parts of roofs. The tornado's path length was about 1.5 miles and its path width was around 200 feet. No injuries were reported. This was the first strong tornado in New Jersey since August 20, 1999 and the first strong tornado in Monmouth County since October 16, 1955.The tornado first touched down near Arbach Lane in Manalapan Township. It initially was relatively weak (F0) on the Fujita Scale, but intensified into an F1 tornado before it reached Kentucky Court. One property on Kentucky Court lost dozens of trees. The tornado also downed trees on Ivanhoe and Rowena Roads. The tornado reached its maximum strength (F2) as it passed through Debracy Court where the worst damage occurred. Four homes suffered severe roof damage. The roof and second floor of one home had to be completely repaired. The windows of another house all burst. A restored Thunderbird was damaged by flying debris that penetrated the garage door. The house apparently shifted as doors no longer closed. A third home on the block had a picnic table blown into its sunroom along with a piece of the neighbor's fence. Patio furniture was splintered throughout the block. A minivan parked in one driveway, was rolled about 40 feet. The tornado weakened to an F1 after it left Debracy Court. Nevertheless, it tore shingles from a home on Eastwood Boulevard and downed a tree onto a car. A construction trailer on Hawkins Corner Road was blown 50 feet across the street and crushed like an aluminum can. As the tornado crossed into Marlboro Township, it knocked down dozens of trees in Hawkins Road Park. The part was closed because of the uprooted trees. As the tornado exited the park, it weakened to an F0. It still knocked a tree onto a house on MacLeisch Drive and ripped shingles and gutters from homes on Guest and MacLeisch Drives. The tornado lifted as it approached Barclay Brook.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 27, 2:54 PM EST, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 354 PM EDT SUN MAY 27 2001 JUST ABOUT AS ADVERTISED...MARINE LAYER LEFT MOST OF AREA WITH BATCH OF RN THAT COVERED AREA YDA INTO ERLY TDA. H5 CLSD LO IS MOVG TWD THE NE AND WL MOV SLOWLY ACRS NY STA. MDLS INDICATE THAT THIS FEATURE WL WEAKEN AS IT DOES SO. MEANWHILE...S/W TROF THAT BROUGHT SOME SVR WX TO MDWEST YDA IS NOW IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS. S/S HELPED TEMPS TO WARM THIS AFTN MOST AREAS AND PREVIOUS RN HAS HELPED ADD DWPTS TO AREA THUS MAKING AREA PRIME FOR TRW DVLPMNT AND SVR TRW STILL A GD PSBLTY. THIS FEATURE MOVS ON TNGT AND A BREAK SETS IN AS UP LO MOVS ACRS NY STA ON MON. MDLS HINT THAT ALL MSTR SWEPT OUT AND THUS WUD XPCT NOTHING ON THE HOLIDAY. HOWEVER...WL CONT A CHC FOR LT DAY AND ERLY NGT TIME RW/TRW. MON NGT. AFTER THAT MDLS SUGGEST THAT MAIN H5 UP LO PULLS INTO CANADA WITH A WEAKER EXTENSION TRYING TO DROP DOWN TWD NY STA. HAVE OPTED TO LEAVE PRECIP OUT OF FCST TUE ALL ZNS...THO THIS SYS CUD TRIGGER SOMETHING UP ACRS NRN ZNS. AFTER THAT FAIR WX THRU MIDWK UNTIL NXT SYS ARND FRI BRNGS CHC PRECIP. ON THE MARINE...NOTHING UP. WWA 297 AND 298 CONT FOR CWA--EXPIRATION TIME 7PM. .PHI...NONE. JWH
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:42 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for New Jersey, 2001Warnings in New Jersey, May 2001
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: 5244852.