Strong thunderstorms with heavy rain, high winds and small hail have knocked out power to thousands of New Jersey residents.
The storms swept through many areas of the state between noon and 3 p.m. Thursday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a series of severe thunderstorm warnings. A wind advisory remains active across most of New Jersey until 7 p.m. Thursday, and in the northeastern counties until 8 p.m.
The National Weather Service received a report of a wind gust as strong as 71 mph about 3 miles north of Barnegat Light in Ocean County, during a thunderstorm at about 2:30 p.m, a gust of 63 mph in Elsinboro Township in Salem County and a 55 mph gust at Atlantic City International Airport in Pomona at about 3 p.m.
The weather service also has reports of many downed trees and power lines, including some in South Brunswick in Middlesex County, Allentown in Monmouth County, Kingwood in Hunterdon County and Watchung in Somerset County.
In the Martinsville section of Bridgewater in Somerset County, there was a report of trees uprooted or snapped, and the weather service also received word of a large tree on top of a house in Neptune in Monmouth County.
Hail was reported in many places across the state, including Hopewell in Mercer County, Plainsboro in Middlesex County and Towaco in Morris County.
Follow the latest live updates on New Jersey power outages below:
NJ Advance Media staff writer Len Melisurgo contributed to this report. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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