A large oak tree toppled onto a house on Sylvan Road last night, about the same time as an EF-0 tornado touched down on the nearby Montclair Golf Club course. A London Plane tree fell on the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, which was also in the path of the high winds.
The owner of the Sylvan Road house was not injured by the falling tree, but it appears to have done significant damage to the house’s roof and second floor. A crew from Caputo Brothers was at the house early this morning to lift the tree off the structure. Caputo Brothers also removed the tree from Holy Spirit, which was not damaged. There were also several downed trees in Verona Park, which was closed for a time this morning so that those trunks and dangling branches could be removed.
The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado touchdown this morning. An EF-0 tornado is the lowest level on the Enhanced Fujita scale used to measure tornadoes, and it signifies wind speeds of 65 to 85 miles per hour. Tornadoes are rare in New Jersey and are mostly at the low end of the Fujita scale. Most New Jersey tornadoes have happened in the central part of the state.
We can confirm an EF-0 tornado briefly touched down in Essex County, NJ yesterday evening.
Maximum winds were 65 mph and it was on the ground for less than a half mile. Several trees and large limbs were knocked down, with one home left severely damaged. #NJwx #tornado pic.twitter.com/SZ7ilLUTPt
— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) July 30, 2021
