Tornadoes · United States · New Jersey · 2019

EF1 tornado, Jefferson to Blenheim, New Jersey, June 13, 2019

From Jefferson to Blenheim, this EF1 tornado ran 2.1 miles across Gloucester and Camden counties on June 13, 2019, touching down at 12:30 AM EDT and reaching 200 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 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    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
EF1
Date
June 13, 2019
Touchdown
12:30 AM EDT (04:30 UTC)
Lifted
12:35 AM EDT (04:35 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
2.1 miles (3.3 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Counties
Gloucester and Camden counties
Touchdown point
39.801, -75.098
Lift-off point
39.806, -75.060
Record number
1906132230-01

The damage survey

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PHI, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

  • large branches down and lawn furniture blown around, gutters taken off one house
  • gutters taken off one house
  • fence damage and backyard furniture lifted approximately 50 yards away
  • trunks snapped. collateral roof damage to three different residences

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A complex frontal system was affecting the mid-Atlantic on June 13. That evening, a west to east oriented warm frontal boundary was located roughly along the borders of Pennsylvania with Maryland and Delaware, and into adjacent areas of New Jersey. While the environment north of this boundary was cool and stable, conditions along and south of the front were more favorable for convection. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms tracked along this boundary, producing areas of damaging wind. In addition, along the northern edge of this line which tracked along the boundary itself, a localized area of enhanced shear led to multiple tornado touchdowns.

A tornado formed in the development near Saddle Court in Mullica |Hill. This caused damage to fencing at one residence, and ripped a|gutter off another residence. Backyard furniture was lifted |approximately 50 yards. From there, the tornado moved in a |northeasterly direction and caused a narrow path of tree damage |before lifting southwest of Highway 322.

The same storm which earlier produced a tornado in Mullica Hill, NJ later produced a second, slightly stronger tornado. This tornado took a non-continuous path from Deptford Township in Gloucester County|into the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township in Camden County. There were |several locations of tree damage, including snapped and uprooted |hardwood trees. There was damage to three residences in Deptford |Township when portions of trees fell on these residences. In |Blackwood, an uprooted tree caused damage to an apartment |building.

The same storm which earlier produced a tornado in Mullica Hill, NJ later produced a second, slightly stronger tornado. This tornado took a non-continuous path from Deptford Township in Gloucester County into the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township in Camden County. There were several locations of tree damage, including snapped and uprooted hardwood trees. There was damage to three residences in Deptford Township when portions of trees fell on these residences. In Blackwood, an uprooted tree caused damage to an apartment building.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
11:33 UTC14:37 UTCFlood AdvisoryPHI
23:24 UTC03:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryPHI
00:09 UTC00:45 UTCTornado WarningPHI
00:26 UTC01:00 UTCTornado 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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 air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), 00:00Z

4.5 hours before the tornado, 210 km from the path. June 14, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 00:00Z on 2019-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 28 joules per kilogram, CIN -43, lifted condensation level 1234 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 00:00Z on 2019-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 55 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
28 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Surface CAPE
162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1234 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), 12:00Z

7.5 hours after it, 210 km from the path. June 14, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2019-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -85584, lifted condensation level 1784 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2019-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -107 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 77 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85584 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1784 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-107 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 59 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:30 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
06:03 UTCCOASTAL FLOODBrooklawnCamden, NJU.S. HIGHWAY 130 CLOSED NEAR COUNTY ROAD 551 FROM TIDAL FLOODING.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in New JerseyEvery tornado in New Jersey since 1950Warnings in force in New Jersey nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 13, 2019

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 134:06 PM EDTEF0Geauga, OH0.475$3,000
June 1311:02 PM EDTEF1Cecil, MD4.6580
June 1312:15 AM EDTEF0Gloucester, NJ0.350

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.