June 15, 2024
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, NJ (MERCER)–The National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly says that their storm damage assessment has confirmed an EF-0 landspout tornado occurred in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, NJ on Friday evening, June 14, 2024. The landspout downed several trees and flipped over a few vehicles in a post office parking lot.
A landspout is a tornado with a narrow, rope-like condensation funnel that forms while the thunderstorm cloud is still growing and there is no rotating updraft – the spinning motion originates near the ground, according to the National Weather Service,
NJ Public Safety News Alerts
NJ Public Safety News Alerts
Lawrence Township Landspout Tornado…
Rating: EF0Estimated Peak Wind: 80 mphPath Length /statute/: 0.13 milesPath Width /maximum/: 60 yardsFatalities: 0
Injuries: 0
Start Date: 06/14/2024Start Time: 05:59 PM EDTStart Location: 3 SSE Lawrenceville / Mercer County / NJ
Start Lat/Lon: 40.2607 / -74.7245
End Date: 06/14/2024End Time: 06:00 PM EDTEnd Location: 3 SSE Lawrenceville / Mercer County / NJ
End Lat/Lon: 40.2619 / -74.7227
Survey Summary:An EF-0 strength landspout tornado occurred in Lawrence Townshipin Mercer County. The landspout began near the Marwa ServiceCenter and Conoco gas station near the intersection of JohnsonRoad and US Route 1 Business (Brunswick Avenue), where a few treeswere uprooted and some softwood trees were snapped. A couple treesfell on the service station, causing some collateral damage. Thegas station canopy was not damaged, but a large sign behind thebuilding was snapped. Two large clothes donation bins were tossedinto a brushy area. Surveillance footage from the service centershowed a distinct convergent nature and shift to the winds as the
damage occurred.
The landspout then moved northeast into a small wooded area before emerging into a post office parking lot. About a half dozenvehicles were flipped over in the parking lot, and a few parking lot signs were blown over or lofted and carried about 250 yards away across the highway. The post office building sustained some minor structural damage, including uplift of some metal roofing material. An HVAC unit was blown off of the roof of the building. A large tree was uprooted at the front of the building and a few other trees had several limbs blown down. Cell phone footage takenfrom across the highway at the Auto Lenders property showed a distinct circulation as the damage was occurring, lofting debris vertically. The landspout then dissipated after impacting the post
office property and no additional damage was observed downstream.
The Fortis Institute building across the highway off of Magnetic Drive had 3 HVAC units displaced on the roof as well as an array of solar panels damaged. This was determined to have been caused by straight line winds and was not associated with the landspout
across the highway.
The National Weather Service would like to thank the New Jersey State Police, Lawrence Township Police, Mercer County Office of Emergency Management, and United States Postal Service at Circle
Branch for their assistance with this survey.
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EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the
following categories:
EF0…..65 to 85 mphEF1…..86 to 110 mphEF2…..111 to 135 mphEF3…..136 to 165 mphEF4…..166 to 200 mph
EF5…..>200 mph
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