Tornadoes · United States · New Jersey · 2016

EF0 tornado, Roxburg to Montana, New Jersey, July 14, 2016

From Roxburg to Montana, this EF0 tornado ran 2.8 miles across Warren County on July 14, 2016, touching down at 2:46 PM EDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
July 14, 2016
Touchdown
2:46 PM EDT (18:46 UTC)
Lifted
2:48 PM EDT (18:48 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
2.8 miles (4.5 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Warren County
Touchdown point
40.790, -75.090
Lift-off point
40.786, -75.047
Record number
1607141246-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A trough of low pressure ahead of a cold front led to the development of several clusters of showers and thunderstorms. Some of these thunderstorms became severe producing damaging winds and even a tornado in Warren County. A 53 mph wind gust was measured at the Morristown Municipal Airport. Several thousand were left without power, mainly in Morris and Warren Counties.

A tornado touched down causing considerable damage to a barn. It picked up a trailer full of hay off the ground and damaged crops. The tornado then lifted as it crossed route 519 reaching Scotts Mountain. It touched down again on the hill moving uphill downing several trees and shearing the tops off along with taking down some fences. The tornado then lifted again and touched down further east on Summerfield Road which caused extensive damage to a house with trees piercing the roof in several spots.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS PHI issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:46 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:00 UTC and running to 20:40 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
16:00 UTC00:00 UTCHeat AdvisoryPHI
17:00 UTC20:40 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchPHI
18:04 UTC18:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHI
18:29 UTC19:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHI
18:46 UTC19:15 UTCTornado WarningPHI
19:07 UTC19:26 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHI

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:23 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The surface observations

Allentown-Bethlehem (ABE), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
16:50 UTC180° 10 kt1011.5
16:51 UTC8874180° 10 kt1011.5
16:55 UTC190° 7 kt1011.5
17:00 UTC210° 7 kt1011.5
17:05 UTC190° 7 kt1011.5
17:10 UTC210° 12 kt1011.2
17:15 UTC220° 11 kt1011.2
17:20 UTC220° 8 kt1011.2
17:25 UTC190° 8 kt1011.2
17:30 UTC220° 9 kt171010.8
17:35 UTC200° 11 kt1010.8
17:40 UTC200° 7 kt1010.5
17:45 UTC180° 8 kt1010.2
17:50 UTC190° 13 kt1010.2
17:51 UTC9172200° 13 kt191010.2
17:55 UTC 1009.8
18:00 UTC 1009.8
18:05 UTC 1009.8
18:10 UTC210° 12 kt1009.8
18:15 UTC 1009.8
18:20 UTC 1010.2
18:25 UTC250° 19 kt1010.8
18:30 UTC 1010.8
18:35 UTC80.669.8320° 10 kt231010.5VCTS
18:40 UTC300° 11 kt1010.2
18:45 UTC320° 6 kt1010.2
18:50 UTC340° 7 kt1010.5
18:51 UTC8471330° 6 kt1010.5VCTS
18:55 UTC330° 8 kt1010.5
19:00 UTC340° 6 kt1010.2
19:05 UTC330° 6 kt1010.2
19:10 UTC330° 5 kt1010.2
19:15 UTC320° 4 kt1010.2
19:20 UTC300° 4 kt1009.8
19:25 UTC290° 5 kt1009.8
19:30 UTC280° 8 kt1009.8
19:35 UTC270° 6 kt1009.8
19:40 UTC250° 8 kt1009.5
19:45 UTC240° 8 kt1009.5
19:50 UTC250° 11 kt1009.5
19:51 UTC9269260° 12 kt1009.5
19:55 UTC240° 15 kt1009.5
20:00 UTC250° 13 kt1009.5
20:05 UTC270° 14 kt1009.5
20:10 UTC240° 16 kt1009.5
20:15 UTC250° 11 kt1009.5
20:20 UTC250° 12 kt1009.5
20:25 UTC250° 15 kt1009.5
20:30 UTC270° 13 kt1009.5
20:35 UTC280° 13 kt1009.5
20:40 UTC270° 12 kt1009.5
20:45 UTC270° 13 kt181009.5

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
18:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGHarmonyWarren, NJSEVERAL BUILDINGS DAMAGED.
18:46 UTCTORNADOLommasons GlenWarren, NJEF0 TORNADO DAMAGED A BARN AND A RESIDENCE. IN ADDITION...THERE WERE NUMEROUS TREES DOWN WITH THE TOPS SHEARED OFF
18:48 UTCTSTM WND DMGHarmonyWarren, NJSEVERAL BUILDINGS DAMAGED.
18:48 UTCTSTM WND DMGWhite TwpWarren, NJA BARN WAS DESTROYED ALONG WITH WIRES AND POLES DOWN ON ROUTE 519.
18:48 UTCTSTM WND DMGWhite TwpWarren, NJA BARN WAS DESTROYED ALONG WITH WIRES AND POLES DOWN ON ROUTE 519.
18:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGWashingtonWarren, NJSEVERAL LARGE LIMBS BLOWN DOWN ONTO VEHICLE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
18:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGWashingtonWarren, NJWINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF A CHURCH. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
19:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGMorristownMorris, NJNUMEROUS TREES DOWN
19:38 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S MorristownMorris, NJDOWNED AND UPROOTED TREES ON WOODLAND AVE
19:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 53Morristown Muni AirportMorris, NJ
19:48 UTCTSTM WND DMGPlainfieldUnion, NJTREE DOWN AT INTERSECTION OF WOODLAND AND RANDOLPH AVENUE

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in New JerseyEvery tornado in New Jersey since 1950Warnings in force in New Jersey nowThe forecast where you are

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.