It WAS a tornado that destroyed Warren County barn, NWS confirms

The National Weather Service has determined it was a tornado that destroyed a barn in Warren County on Thursday as a strong line of storms moved through the state.

An investigative team's preliminary report said the tornado, a zero on the EF scate, formed around 2:45 p.m. and "skipped along a path approximately 2.8 miles long. One barn and one residence were damaged. In addition, there were numerous trees down with the tops sheared off" by the twister's 75 MPH winds, according to the NWS.

No injuries were reported, according to the report.

Tom Smith, the owner of the barn destroyed by the tornado, told NBC 4 New York that it sounded like 10 freight trains as the twister approached. Smith told the station he was in the field of his farm when it struck and watched it flatten corn stalk and tip over a tractor trailer along with 40-pound bales of hay.

The storms blew across North Jersey on Thursday with strong winds that brought down tree limbs, trees and power lines.

Tornado in NJ? Strong thunderstorm destroys barn, plunges thousands into darkness

Approximately 18,000 JCP&L customers were without power on Thursday afternoon and just over 300 customers remain in the dark as of 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, according to the utility's outage map which indicates power should be restored by 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"These little smaller outages that affect fewer customers take longer to restore,"JCP&L spokeswoman Tricia Ingram said on Friday.

As temperatures in New Jersey continue to soar, free Ice and water for affected customers are available for JCP&L customers at the following locations with the presentation of ID: