The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado came ashore in the Normandy Beach neighborhood, a collection of streets split between Toms River and Brick townships.
Several funnel clouds and waterspouts were seen Tuesday as a string of storms moved through the area. The video embedded with this story shows a funnel cloud near South Seaside Park that was part of the same storm system, as captured by the Shore and More General Store.
According to the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, a waterspout formed between Silver Bay and Kettle Creek, on the mainland side of the bay, then moved ashore at the Normandy Beach Yacht Club near South Court.
“Several boats and associated trailers were tossed and flipped, with minor damage reported to at least one home on South Court,” the NWS statement said.
The tornado was measured as an EF-0 storm, a weak tornado with wind speeds between 65 and 85 m.p.h.
The tornado “may have lifted as it proceeded east across Route 35,” the statement said, “and approached the coast just north of Normandy Shores Beach Club.”
The tornado returned to its waterspout state over the ocean and did not cause further damage, the NWS statement said.
Other storms that were described by many residents as tornadoes could not be confirmed. The NWS said storms in Toms River and Brick Township’s mainland areas were associated with a front moving through the area.