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

Parts of New Jersey are still cleaning up after Thursday's severe thunderstorms, and the state may have seen a tornado.

Morris and Warren counties were the hardest hit, with a possible tornado destroying a barn in White Township in Warren County. Farmer Tom Smith told LehighValleyLive.com  he saw black clouds turning and twisting coming across the field of his 20-acre farm.

"The barn is destroyed. It's just like you see in the pictures out West — destroyed it in a matter of one minute. I just dove for whatever I could. There's not much left," Smith said.

Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said the National Weather Service will send a team to investigate the damage to determine what exactly caused the damage.

The storms also blew out the windows of a church and knocked tree limbs onto cars in Washington Township in Warren County, and brought trees and wires along Woodland Avenue in Morris, according to National Weather Service observations.

As of 7 a.m., more than 4,500 JCP&L customers in Morris County, mostly in Morris and Morristown, were still without power, according to the utility's outage map. PSE&G had more than 1,205 outages mostly scattered around Essex County.

JCP&L spokeswoman Tricia Ingram said that on Thursday afternoon, 18,000 customers were without power due to the  intensity of the storm. The remaining outages Friday morning were scattered and mostly limbs down on wires, according to Ingram.

"These little smaller outages that affect fewer customers take longer to restore," Ingram said. She expected all power to be restored by 11:30 p.m.

"Strong summertime thunderstorms are certainly not unusual in New Jersey. With plenty of energy (heat) and moisture (humidity) in the atmosphere, it was not surprising to see Thursday's storms grow so strong so quickly,"  Zarrow said. "Luckily, the storms formed a narrow strip of heavy rain that moved eastward very quickly. So the nasty weather only lasted for 10 to 15 minutes in any given location."

Zarrow said thunderstorms are less likely on Friday and through the weekend as the humidity drops from the "gross" 70s to the "sticky" 60s.

"I think the next chance for any kind of widespread, organized rain will hold off until early next week. Having said that, we'll have to remain vigilant through the weekend for the chance of a spot shower or thunderstorm at any given time."