Updated Apr. 24, 2020 11:42 AM
Powerful storms in the Northeast packed with damaging winds, heavy rain, hail and possible tornadoes are noteworthy during any time of the year. But in April? Practically unheard of.
Rounds of severe weather most commonly strike the region in the summer or early fall, usually dealing property damage and minor destruction for residents to clean up. However, those cleanup efforts were moved up a few months this year after Tuesday night's line of early season severe weather along with an unexpected phenomenon off the coast of New Jersey: a waterspout.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that damage survey results confirmed EF0 tornado damage in Normandy Beach, New Jersey.
"A waterspout formed over Barnegat Bay between Silver Bay and Kettle Creek, then moved ashore at the Normandy Beach Yacht Club," the NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly office announced. "Several boats and associated trailers were tossed and flipped, with minor damage being reported to at least one home on South Court. This weak tornado may have lifted as it proceeded east across Route 35, and approached the coast just north of Normandy Shores Beach Club. The tornado then became a waterspout as it emerged over the coastal waters, causing little or no additional damage."
On Thursday morning, the NWS shared that the event over the Harlem River in New York City could have been a gustnado, otherwise considered a "significant wind event." According to the NWS, a gustnado is a small whirlwind which forms as an eddy in thunderstorm outflows.
"We feel it is a great example of a gustnado because it lacks the apparent funnel cloud that would be attached to the base of a rotating updraft of a thunderstorm," the NWS said.
Although occasionally spotted in the summer or fall months, waterspouts in the region are a rare occurrence this early in the year due to a variety of climatological factors.
Footage of a storm brewing off the coast appeared to depict a waterspout spinning in the distance. (Storyful / @astro_chad)
"Waterspouts are not common this time of year off the Northeast coast because of the cold water," AccuWeather Senior Weather Editor and Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said. "However, this may have been a rotating thunderstorm over land that spawned a waterspout at sea simply due to the lack of friction."
Footage of the waterspout off the coast of South Seaside Park in New Jersey circulated on Tuesday night shortly after the NWS issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of the state and Pennsylvania.
Along with the severe thunderstorm warnings, a rare tornado warning was issued for the New Jersey coastline area and even extended to include parts of Manhattan. The rare April tornado warning was first in quite a while to be issued by the NWS for the area.
"Tornado warnings are also very unusual this time of year in the New York City area, where one was issued Tuesday," Ferrell said. "Since the 1980s, only one other tornado warning was issued by the New York City NWS office in the month of April."
The warning was canceled shortly after being issued, but footage of the waterspout came after reports of a potential tornado by Toms River in New Jersey, leaving people wondering how severe the storm really was.
Arial photos taken Wednesday morning after Tuesday's severe weather show the widespread damage in Toms River, New Jersey. (Facebook / Toms River Township)
Another AccuWeather meteorologist threw cold water on the waterspout possibility, citing, well, cold water.
"Waterspouts usually occur when the water is warmer than the air, so I suspect it must have been a tornado that moved over water," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said, adding that current water temperatures are hovering from the mid-40s to near 50 degrees along the New Jersey coast.
Tuesday's weather setup was much more conducive to producing fast-moving storms with widespread strong wind gusts and small hail, rather than tornadoes. Typically, much warmer and more humid air would be needed to support tornado formation in the mid-Atlantic, or anywhere for that matter. However, it's not out of the question that a quick, isolated twister could have spun up before moving out over the ocean, Sosnowski speculated.
By the Toms River, located less than 10 miles inland from the coast, residents have spent Wednesday picking up the pieces from Tuesday night's storms, which knocked over hundreds of trees and rained debris on cars and houses.
A flipped trailer was among the damage dealt by strong winds and a night of severe weather in Toms River, New Jersey. (Facebook / Toms River Township)
On Wednesday afternoon, the Toms River Township posted on Facebook regarding the potential tornado and noted that there were no injuries or deaths.
"Multiple Toms River crews responded yesterday afternoon after an apparent tornado touched down in in the Melody Park and Twin Oaks neighborhoods of Toms River and again in the area of Pepper Tree resulting in hundreds of downed trees, private property damage to homes, cars, decks, pools, vehicles and fences ," the Facebook post read. "The damage included a 24-foot travel trailer, which went airborne and was dropped in an overturned position on a neighboring property."
Two dozen township workers cleaned up the tree damage using cutting equipment and several trucks and utility vehicles -- all told, they chipped away and removed ten 30-yard dumpsters worth of brush and tree branch debris left littering streets and right of ways, according to Toms River Township.
While meteorologists may ponder the storm's official classification, residents and experts alike await the damage survey results to fully grasp the damage dealt.
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