Burlington County Tornado Packed 90 MPH Winds

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ — The tornado that struck Burlington County Wednesday night had peak winds of about 90 mph, according to a preliminary report released by the National Weather Service.

In one area, 30 trees were either uprooted or snapped, but no deaths or injuries were reported with this storm, according to the report.

The tornado that touched down in Burlington County has been classified as an EF-1 tornado, which means it brings wind gusts of between 86 and 110 mph. More about the different tornado grades can be found at weather.gov.

The storm struck Burlington County after producing a tornado that brought winds of 150 mph in Gloucester County. The supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado in Burlington Township near the township line with Edgewater Park at 6:59 p.m.

The tornado lasted about five minutes and covered two states, as it ended in Bristol, Bucks County Pennsylvania, at 7:04 p.m.

It was the third tornado reported in Burlington County this year. The first was reported on July 17, when an EF1 tornado hit Springfield, according to the National Weather Service. That tornado last six minutes, peaked at between 80 and 90 miles an hour, and no fatalities or injuries were reported. Read more here: Tornado Struck Burlington County Saturday Night, Officials Say

The second was reported on July 29, when a tornado was sighted over Burlington.

This storm uprooted a pine tree in Edgewater Park and several small branches were brought down in Delanco, according to the report.

Numerous hard and softwood trees were uprooted along Jennifer Lane in a neighborhood just off of Beverly Road in Burlington Township. Some additional damage included:

• A large branch collapsed on a car at Jennifer Lane and Squire Way;
• A pine tree was brought down, breaking the window of a home on Jennifer Lane, and a small Sycamore tree was snapped at the root a few houses down;
• Trees were snapped and branches were brought down on Shive Place and Handler Drive;
• A couple of homes suffered Soffit damage; and
• 30 trees were either uprooted or snapped, and power lines were downed on Shive Place and Handler Drive.

The tornado then approached the Delaware River and took a slight turn north. It passed a steel and power plant, but did no damage. It crossed the Burlington-Bristol Bridge, but did no damage here, either.

It passed through a wooded floodplain without doing damage, then lifted before reaching Bristol, where it snapped several trees along the Bristol Wharf.