The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado did touch down in Manahawkin on Tuesday morning as part of the powerful storms that moved through the area.

According to the investigators report the storm touched down at the intersection of Route 9 and Oak Avenue. "Numerous trees were blown down or snapped" along the tornado's path. The report notes damage to the roof of the Manahawkin Baptist Church before lifting at Hilliard Boulevard and Beach Avenue.

The tornado was a zero on the EF-scale of rating tornadoes with maximum wind speed of 75-85 MPH. It is the weakest possible tornado.

Many in the area described hearing what sounded like a train when the tornado passed.

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Flood water runoff in Allenhurst
Flood water runoff in Allenhurst (Severe NJ WX via Facebook)
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8:12 p.m. - Atlantic City Electric still has some outages in Gloucester County (582) and Ocean County (582) according to their outage map.

3:16 p.m. OUTAGE UPDATE - Atlantic City Electric crews continue to restore power to more customers as 239 are still without power in Atlantic County, 891 in Ocean County and 251 in Salem County. It's a slower process in Gloucester County as 2,249 are still in the dark.

Route 72 has reopened in Manahawkin but Route 9 remains closed in Stafford Township. Most of the flooding delays on the Garden State Parkway have cleared up.

The National Weather Service reports 5 inches of rain in Washington Township (Gloucester County), 4.2 inches in Mullica Hill and 3.74 inches in Glassboro. The NWS tells the Patch of Manahawkin/Barnegat some areas of Ocean County received 6 inches of rain.

Besides Ocean County, there are reports of cloud rotations in both Salem and Gloucester counties,

1:30 p.m. - OUTAGE UPDATE: Atlantic City Electric has made progress restoring power in Ocean County with only 900 customers still without power. 890 are still without power in Atlantic County and 882 in Salem County. Gloucester County, however, still has 6,577 in the dark.

1:00 p.m. - Several roads have reopened in south Jersey. Route 44 is still closed in Paulsboro as is Route 45 in Woodson.  Earlier closures are still in place in Moumouth & Ocean Counties

12:21 p.m. - OUTAGE UPDATE: Atlantic City Electric reports 6,961 outages in Gloucester County, 2,704 out in Ocean County, 1,773 outages in Atlantic County and 1,121 in Salem County. Only a handful of JCP&L customers remain without power.

12:15 p.m. - Stafford PD Captain Tom Dellane urges people to avoid Hilliard Boulevard, Beach Avenue, Stafford Avenue and Parker Street. He tells Townsquare Media that the winds and rain that tore up trees and knocked down power lines bore all the markings of a tornado. National Weather Service meteorologists tell us that they'll be able to categorize the weather event once they've combed through data this afternoon.

11:30 a.m. -Stafford Police posted on their Facebook page that "Traffic lights are out, trees and power lines are down throughout the township and blocking roadways. Residents are strongly encouraged to stay home and OFF the roadways."

11:28 p.m. - There are a number of issues on the roads including closures of Route 55 in Deptford and Route 70 in Cherry Hill in south Jersey.

In Ocean County, Route 35 is closed in Point Pleasant, Route 72 is closed in Stafford. Route 35 is also closed in Ocean Township Monmouth County.

The Garden State Parkway is flooded between exits 89 in Lakewood and #98 (I-195) in Wall Township and again around #109 (Red Bank).

11:13 a.m. - Atlantic City Electric customers are hard hit with 4,500 customers in Gloucester County without power and 6,700 customers in southern Ocean County in the dark. JCP&L reports just over 1,000 customers without power, mostly in Wall Township & Brielle.

11:00 a.m. -  Burlington County officials had to move some voting booths when water seeped into polling places.

10:55 a.m. - Rain totals include 4.2 inches in Galloway, 3.6 inches in Pitman and 3.25 in Berlin. Also the report of the roof being blown off a farmhouse in Shamong. KYW TV reports 6,000 lightning strikes from Gloucester County to Ocean County between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

10:50 a.m.  - Amtrak reported a low-voltage condition with overhead  wires on the Northeast Corridor is to blame for a suspension and delays.

10:35 a.m. - A Tornado Warning is cancelled by the  National Weather Service after a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado had been spotted on radar near Manahawkin around 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning but fell below the criteria for a tornado.


Flooding on the 42 Freeway north of Interstate 295
Flooding on the 42 Freeway north of Interstate 295 (KYW TV via Facebook)
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NJ Transit and Amtrak service on the Northeast Corridor is restored following overhead wire problems along with North Jersey Coastal with 40-60 minute delays.  Midtown Direct trains are operating to/from Hoboken Terminal while NJT rail tickets and passes are being honored on PATH trains at Newark, Hoboken, and 33rd St., and on NJT and private carrier buses.

Amtrak also says there are 20-40 minute delays on the Northeast Corridor between Wilmington and Baltimore as crews continue to make repairs to the signals, clean up debris and deal with high water on the rails.

The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management reports flooding around the state involving cars submerged in water while the National Weather Service reports 3.5 inches of rain fallen in Gloucester County.

NWS meteorologist Gary Szatkowski tweeted that the radar is "growing more ominous for cell in southern NJ."

The 42 Freeway is flooded out at Market Street closed causing delays on I-295 and Route 55.

The National Weather Service has issued a number of watches and warnings for New Jersey as strong storms with heavy rains move east that could leave 2-4 inches of rain with possible higher amounts in some areas, cloud to ground lightning, winds of at least 70 MPH and hail along with possible rotation in the clouds.


 


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