VIDEO: ‘Impressive’ waterspout wows Seaside Heights

A line of thunderstorms brought a vivid waterspout to Barnegat Bay plus numerous reports of hail and funnel cloud sightings on Saturday afternoon.

The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office posted pictures of a waterspout in Barnegat Bay near Shelter Cove between Toms River and Lavalette. New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow described it as "well-defined and impressive."

After the spout was spotted, the National Weather Service issue a special marine warning because spots can cause the water to become rough.

"Luckily it didn't make landfall and become a 'landspout' although based on the videos I've seen, I doubt winds were stronger than those of a marginal severe thunderstorm less than 60 mph," Zarrow said. "Waterspouts are generally weak, lacking the impressive structure, instability, and shear profile of their stronger 'tornado' cousins."

There were reports of quarter inch pea-size hail around the state on Saturday including Brick, Ewing, Howell, Lawrenceville, Succasunna, Tinton Falls, Saturday and periods of cold, heavy rain, which Zarrow said was the result of cold air way up in the atmosphere, Zarrow said. The cold air is also responsible for "cold air funnels" that were spotted on Saturday afternoon but were not a threat of producing tornadoes.

The wild weather wasn't limited to New Jersey. Higher elevations of central Pennsylvania along Route 80 reported light to moderate snow on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service in State College, Pennsylvania.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ