An approaching cold front resulted in scattered severe thunderstorms for portions of Central New Jersey.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
An approaching cold front resulted in scattered severe thunderstorms for portions of Central New Jersey.
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 3, 2:15 PM EST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ 315 PM EDT Sat May 3 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will gradually work its way into the region tonight into Sunday before settling just to our south into Monday. An expansive upper level system over the Ohio Valley will direct several pieces of energy across our area through Tuesday resulting in unsettled weather. The system will gradually move out of the region Tuesday night and Wednesday. A cold front will then move across our region Thursday into Friday with high pressure building nearby during Saturday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of early this afternoon, low pressure has moved into Atlantic Canada with a trailing cold front extending south and west through eastern NY and then on into PA. This front then connects to a new surface low developing near Kentucky. This low is associated with an upper level trough that is in the process of closing off into a closed low. This set up has our area in the warm sector with temperatures for most areas rising into the 80s due to the SW flow and solar insolation. There has been an initial weak impulse aloft that's fueled some convection that's grazed our Pocono zones into NW NJ. But as of just after 2 PM, this initial round was moving out of the area into NY State. Some additional cells could develop in its wake over NE PA into NW NJ but it appears at this time that the threat for more widespread showers and storms will be more so towards late this afternoon into the first half of this evening as convection developing to our south and west moves northeast and strengthens. The highest threat for storms looks to be near and especially NW of the I-95 corridor. With ML CAPEs maxing out around the 1000-1500 j/kg range along with Bulk shear of 35-40 knots and steep low level lapse rates, damaging winds looks to be the biggest threat. Storms are likely to be some discrete cells tending more towards multi-cell clusters with time and possibly one or more short line segments. Given the strong shear and relatively high CAPE, some storms could take on supercellular characteristics and these could produce some large hail. An isolated tornado will also be possible. The highest threat both for showers/storms as well as any severe weather will be over eastern PA into NW NJ where the Storm Prediction Center continues to carry a SLIGHT risk of severe weather. Much of this area is also in a MARGINAL risk for excessive rainfall that could bring localized flash flooding. The front to our north will dip southward into our northern zones into early this evening helping to trigger the convection but then it should start to nudge back slightly north overnight. As a result, by late this evening into the overnight convection will tend to diminish from south to north. It will be a mild and humid night with lows for most areas not dropping below the 60s. By sunrise Sunday, a large area of low pressure both at the surface and aloft will be slowly churning over the midwest. Latest indications are that there will be a wave of upper level energy associated with this system that will pivot through the area from SW to NE through roughly the 12-18z timeframe. This means it actually looks to be the mid morning into the early afternoon that will be more favored for widespread rain/showers, possibly heavy at times. Cloud cover will be quite widespread by this time and also due to the earlier timing during the day the severe weather threat looks low as instability may be quite minimal. That said, PWATs around 1.5 inches along with nearly saturated profiles could still result in some localized flooding and even flash flooding. By the latter half of the afternoon, showers/storms look to diminish from SW to NE meaning the end of the day could actually be mostly dry. Cloud cover along with more marine influence due to the flow being more SE will keep it cooler compared to today with highs generally in the 70s. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... Unsettled as spokes of energy move through ahead of a closed low. A closed low will become nearly stationary over the Ohio Valley through Monday night, before it shifts northeastward during Tuesday and Tuesday night. Surface low pressure will meander under the closed low in the Ohio Valley and then travel with it through Tuesday night. A cold front looks to settle across our area into Sunday before shifting just to our south into Monday. Shortwave energy rotating around the closed low will lead to times of showers and some thunderstorms. This should result in clouds dominating and with the winds turning southeasterly, the instability looks to be limited. The southeasterly flow should lead to a more focused area of some heavier showers at times across areas northwest of the I-95 corridor. It is in these areas where several inches of rain may fall through Tuesday night. Showers and some thunderstorms should tend to increase at times Sunday night through late Monday as some stronger forcing arrives. While some elevated instability will lead to isolated to scattered thunderstorms, the lower instability due to onshore flow should significantly limit the severe thunderstorm risk. Given deeper moisture occurring and that showers and thunder should occur within clusters with even some locally training cells, there is a local flash flood risk. This will be greatest where heavier cores train over the same area tied with higher hourly rainfall rates. There should be breaks in between rounds of more organized convection, and this should limit the flash flood threat overall. May concern is in the urbanized areas where higher hourly rainfall rates will result in more efficient runoff. High temperatures both Monday and Tuesday are forecast to be in the 60s and 70s across the region. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Summary...Mild to warm conditions, although cooling may occur to end the week for a time. Precipitation chances are forecast to be lower. Synoptic Overview...A closed low is forecast to be weakening and lifting out of the Northeast during Wednesday. Another upper-level trough looks to be quick on its heels as it moves into the Northeast Thursday, which may amplify quite a bit Friday before starting to lift out into Saturday. At the surface, a cold front is forecast to cross our area late Wednesday into Thursday then high pressure starts to build nearby later Friday into Saturday. For Wednesday and Thursday...A closed low is forecast to weaken and open up during Wednesday as it lifts across the Northeast. This will continue to take a cold front offshore with weak high pressure well to our southwest. Another upper-level trough however looks to quickly move into the Northeast Thursday and this should usher in another cold front later Wednesday night into Thursday across our area. Some shower and thunderstorm activity may accompany this front, however the details are a bit uncertain as the timing will play a role especiallly regarding the magnitude of the instability. High temperatures each afternoon are forecast to be in the low to mid 70s, although cooler in the higher elevations and right along the coast. For Friday and Saturday...The aforementioned upper-level trough may amplify quite a bit across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions during Friday. This would deliver a much cooler air mass across the area and with the colder air aloft there is some potential for some instability driven showers during the day Friday. If the trough does indeed become rather amplified with a much colder air mass aloft, then some low-topped convection would be possible pending enough instability (some hail potential?). The trough looks to lift out during Saturday with moderating temperatures. && .AVIATION /19Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... The following discussion is for KPHL, KPNE, KTTN, KABE, KRDG, KILG, KMIV, KACY and surrounding areas. Rest of this afternoon...Mainly VFR except potential for some scattered showers/storms affecting areas mainly north of the I-95 corridor after 21z. If any move over a TAF site they could briefly bring visbys down to IFR and also produce some strong winds. Otherwise, SW winds 10 to 15 gusting 20 to 25 knots. Moderate confidence. Tonight...Scattered showers/storms linger into the evening and again will be focused mainly near and especially north of the I-95 terminals. Once again, sub VFR likely if any storms move over TAF sites but otherwise VFR through most of the evening. Ceilings will begin to lower towards 12Z from west to east, with MVFR or perhaps IFR becoming increasingly likely. South to SE winds around 5 to 10 knots. Moderate confidence. Sunday...Rain/showers fairly widespread in the morning through the early afternoon along with some possible embedded storms. Mainly MVFR cigs with even some times of IFR possible. South to SE winds around 10 knots. Moderate confidence. Outlook... Sunday night through Tuesday...Periods of sub-VFR conditions with several rounds of showers and some thunderstorms. Wednesday and Thursday...Mainly VFR. && .MARINE... A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for the Atlantic coastal waters to 7 AM Sunday. South wind 15-20 kt with gusts to 30 kt and seas 4-6 ft expected. Rain showers and isolated storms are also possible tonight. For Sunday, conditions will still be right around or just below marginal Small Craft Advisory levels with south to southeast winds around 15 to 20 knots and seas 4-5 feet. This means it's possible the Small Craft Advisory may need to be extended. Outlook... Sunday night...The conditions are anticipated to be below Small Craft Advisory criteria. Monday and Tuesday...Small Craft Advisory conditions possible. Wednesday...The conditions are anticipated to be below Small Craft Advisory criteria. Thursday...Small Craft Advisory conditions may develop later at night, especially on the ocean zones. && .HYDROLOGY... Several waves of wet weather look to begin through tonight and persist into Tuesday. Several inches of rain may fall in some locations, however timing and location will be critical to determine if any flooding issues arise. If higher convective hourly rainfall rates occur in any location in a short period of time, especially over the urbanized areas, there will be an increasing localized flash flooding risk due to more efficient runoff. Fortunately, we are coming off an extended dry spell, particularly northwest of I-95 where indications suggest the heaviest rain may end up falling. For the time being, we will continue to monitor trends in the guidance. && .PHI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...None. NJ...None. DE...None. MD...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 7 AM EDT Sunday for ANZ450>455. && SYNOPSIS...Gorse/RCM NEAR TERM...Cooper/Fitzsimmons SHORT TERM...Gorse/RCM LONG TERM...Gorse AVIATION...Fitzsimmons/Gorse MARINE...Fitzsimmons/Gorse HYDROLOGY...PHI
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:29 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
The 911 Center had multiple reports of wires blown down around Flemington.
The 911 center reported multiple wires blown down around Readington Township.
The 911 Center reported multiple wires blown down around Raritan Township.
Estimated maximum hail size of 1 inch was reported by an observer through the Mping application.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Jersey in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, May 2025
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: 1266666, 1266668, 1266670, 1266664.