Apr 1, 2023 NJ tornado outbreak, tor-e?

[Laney Cole]

I have a question- a friend of mine mentioned that Jan 24 was the first tor-e ever in the history of the Houston office.
I could swear there was a tor-e warning in Ocean County, NJ, but I can't find anything online.

 

[Jamie H]

I can't see anything on here for April 1st I am afraid: April Fool's Day 2023 Tornado Outbreak nor on here: List of United States tornado emergencies - Wikipedia

 

[Laney Cole]

Thank you, Jamie, for looking into it for me- I can't find it anywhere either.

 

[Mark Gressman Jr]

I didn't remember seeing any Emergency or PDS warnings for Jersey on that day, but I went back and checked anyway. The only PDS warnings were in the Mid West and Ohio valley. The only Tor Emergency for Jersey was back in 2021 on the supercell that had already dropped the Mullica Hill EF3. Of course I had work both of those occasions, or I would've been out for a semi-local chase.

Did you get out to chase in April? From what I saw, most of the tornadoes were short lived, and came from a supercell embedded in the line, so visibility was poor.

Here's a good site for reference

IEM :: Tornado + Flash Flood Emergencies Listing

Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University

mesonet.agron.iastate.edu

 

[Laney Cole]

Thank you for responding, nice to meet another New Jersey chaser!
I did not get to chase on 4/1- my partner was at work, and I didn't want to leave my family alone at home.
Do you chase frequently in New Jersey? Between the trees and the road networks, I've found it quite difficult.
Thank you for the link, it is helpful.

 

[Mark Gressman Jr]

I've only recently got into chasing over the last 2 years or so. Most of that time has been spent teaching myself the meteorology for when I can actually make a trip to the plains. I have been out a half dozen times, but they were days where the shear was lackluster, and I only ended up driving around squall lines for the experience of maneuvering and feature identification. The few good setups we've had since then were days I unfortunately had to work. But you're right, it's damn hard around here, lol. I did get to see the Mullica Hill supercell from about 2 miles away as it passed by my job, 20 mins before it produced. Seems as if most of the action is always farther north, probably closer to you, which makes me wonder how much the geography influences production.

 

[Laney Cole]

We're in the same boat, lol. I learned a lot through the SKYWARN certification last spring, but continuing to educate myself to be prepared for a trip to the plains.
We get tor warned/severe storms during the spring/early summer. The problem is, that by the time they reach the shore, they either move off to the northwest or die off. This makes me think of your geography question. As you can imagine, chasing these storms is near impossible- so I sit and monitor the radar as best I can- and hope at least a wall cloud will pass by that I can photograph.

 

[gdlewen]

Thank you for responding, nice to meet another New Jersey chaser!
I did not get to chase on 4/1- my partner was at work, and I didn't want to leave my family alone at home.
Do you chase frequently in New Jersey? Between the trees and the road networks, I've found it quite difficult.
Thank you for the link, it is helpful.

I lived in Robbinsville, NJ for many years, and I agree chasing there can be the worst. I developed a series of spots with good visibility and waited for storms to pass near them. But the road network plus traffic plus the artificially high horizons due to trees and housing made it hard. The impression I have though, is that there have been more actual tornado events in the past few years than there were in the [not sayin' how long] I lived there.

As for the geography effect, I always had the impression that storms that crossed the Appalachians into the Piedmont Upland region became disorganized and then re-intensified as they crossed the Delaware. But I never bothered to figure it out, so it remains "local lore".

The best storm I ever saw (from a fixed location, of course) was a supercell that formed southwest over the NJ coastal plain and moved northeast right over Robbinsville. Nice easy terrain, no orographic influences....

Alas! no tornado, but a nice cell. (The story of my life....)