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Two tornado warnings were issued again late Saturday evening by the National Weather Service for parts of Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean counties as heavy thunderstorms moved through the area, dumping heavy rain and generating strong winds.
The warning for Fort Dix, New Egypt and Wrightstown was issued at approximately 10:22 p.m. and was scheduled to expire at 10:45 p.m.
Another warning issued further north for Cream Ridge and Hornerstown was due to expire at 11:15 pm.
A penny-sized hail was possible, the warning said.
UPDATE: At 10:55 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service lifted the last tornado warnings, so at this time there is no active tornado warning in New Jersey. And so far, there have been no confirmed funnel clouds in the Garden State, despite the warnings and intense thunderstorms.
Meanwhile, a severe thunderstorm warning remains in effect in parts of Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties until 11:15 p.m. Saturday, and a flash flood warning is active in those same counties for up to 2 am Sunday, with Camden, Gloucester and Salem Counties.
The National Weather Service said strong thunderstorm cells are moving through these areas with 60 mph wind gusts, quarter hail and frequent lightning.
UPDATE (11:35 p.m.): The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the southwestern part of Somerset County, in effect until 9 a.m. Sunday. As of 11:25 p.m. Saturday, total precipitation in that area of the state was between 3 inches and 5 inches.
“Although little additional rainfall is expected overnight, runoff from heavy rains will continue to cause flooding in the area until Sunday morning,” the weather service said in the flood warning. Some of the places where flooding was reported on Saturday night included Belle Mead, Bridgewater, Cloverhill, Flagtown, Manville, Millstone, Raritan Borough, Rocky Hill and Skillman.
Nearly 4 inches of rain fell in the Kingwood area of Hunterdon County as of 11 p.m. Saturday, with most rain reported between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., according to precipitation data from the Rutgers NJ Weather Network.
About 4.5 inches of rain were reported on Saturday near the Stanton section of Readington Township in Hunterdon County, according to a storm report from a qualified meteorologist. This is the amount of rain that normally falls in New Jersey throughout the month of July.
Another trained weather observer reported a massive 5.4-inch rain in Flemington at 9 p.m. Saturday.
Torrential rains also hit Newark hard, inundating streets, blocking cars and causing significant flight delays at Newark Liberty International Airport. And flash floods were reported at 11 p.m. in Branchburg in Somerset County, along the north branch of the Raritan River, according to the National Weather Service.
Earlier Saturday, two more tornado warnings were issued in central New Jersey, one near Flemington in Hunterdon County and one in the Woodbridge area of Middlesex County.
The National Weather Service said a trained weather observer reported a funnel cloud at 3:07 p.m. from its observation post at Woodbridge, but it did not appear to come into contact with the ground.
Just five days ago, on July 12, a tornado warning was issued in parts of Bergen and Passaic counties on another stormy day. But no tornado has been confirmed.
Two tornadoes hit New Jersey as Tropical Storm Elsa grazed the east coast region early Friday morning July 9.
The first was an EF-1, which reached peak winds of 100 mph when it landed at Woodbine in Cape May County around 2:40 a.m. and lasted about two minutes, the weather service said. The second tornado was classified as a lower-level EF-0, with peak winds of 80 mph, landing at 3:33 a.m. along Sycamore Drive in Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County.
NJ Advance Media Editor-in-Chief Len Melisurgo contributed to this report.
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