Landspout tornado flips car in New Jersey
Powerful winds nearly launched the car into a business.
A tornado was only on the ground for a short time in New Jersey on Saturday, but still managed to cause a fair amount of damage.
The National Weather Service's Mount Holly office said the twister was reported shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday in Mount Laurel, located about 20 miles east of Philadelphia in Burlington County.
The brief "landspout tornado" touched down in a commercial warehouse parking lot and then moved across the lot, overturning one car as seen on surveillance video.
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"I was walking out of Produce Junction on Route 73 in Maple Shade and there was just a funnel spinning in the air and then you saw it drop down; it's pretty serious," Jonathan Mazanec told WPVI-TV.
The EF-0 tornado with winds up to 70 mph then passed over the adjoining warehouse building, where it caused minor roof damage.
"Portions of roof material were pulled back causing the roof to bow," the NWS said in its report. "Two air conditioning units were torn off the roof. Ceiling tiles were also dislodged throughout the interior of the building."
The tornado then quickly dissipated before any other damage was reported. Officials said the twister traveled about 0.07 miles, and had a maximum path width of 15 feet.
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"Thankfully no injuries or fatalities occurred during this event," the NWS said.
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Robert Deal, service manager at Castle Windows, told the Burlington County Times that 25 to 30 people were evacuated. Authorities said the gas was shut off as a precaution.
Landspouts are non-supercell tornadoes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory
"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 NOAA.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.