The strongest winds were reported in Ocean County, according to preliminary wind-speed readings. Powerful gusts were also detected in Atlantic, Bergen and Sussex. Watch video
Most of us heard those ferocious winds howling Wednesday night as a line of powerful thunderstorms rolled across New Jersey, and many saw the impact, with all those trees that were blown down.
How strong were those gusts?
The top wind speed during the storm was 62 mph, recorded in Berkeley Township in Ocean County, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service and the New Jersey Weather & Climate Network at Rutgers University.
Almost as strong was another gust in the same region -- 59 mph recorded at Ocean County Airport in Bayville. Powerful gusts of 55 mph were also detected in other parts of the Garden State, from Sussex and Bergen counties in the northern region down to Atlantic County in the south.
Although a tornado watch was issued for 16 counties in New Jersey, the watch was never elevated to a warning and there were no reports of funnel clouds spotted in the Garden State, said Lance Franck, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service regional office in Mount Holly.
However, the winds that were associated with the thunderstorms were still strong enough to knock down trees and power lines, Franck said. The damage that was reported to the weather service appeared to have been caused by straight-line winds, not by swirling gusts that would be indicative of a funnel cloud, he said.
Strong thunderstorms in February are a little unusual, but not rare, Franck noted. The storm system that moved up from the south and west into New Jersey on Wednesday had just the right ingredients to produce strong cells: A lot of moisture was in place, and there was a lot of instability in the atmosphere as the storms moved into the state and temperatures were rising into the 50s and 60s.
On Feb. 16, trees were toppled, a large truck was blown onto its side and a high school sports scoreboard was blown down when a line of powerful thunderstorms swept through New Jersey. Some wind gusts during that day were as strong as 60 to 70 mph, the weather service said.
MORE WIND GUSTS ACROSS NEW JERSEY
Here's a look at the maximum wind gusts reported in dozens of towns across New Jersey during the storm on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.