National Weather Service issues severe thunderstorm warnings across New Jersey and New York
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of New Jersey and New York Friday.
The warnings matter because damaging gusts and a low tornado risk were forecast.
Background
The National Weather Service is the federal agency that issues severe thunderstorm watches and warnings. A watch means conditions favor severe storms, while a warning means one is occurring or imminent and is the more urgent alert. The alerts came as a cold front swept across the region late Friday, with storm cells expected to develop in eastern Pennsylvania and move into New Jersey. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center placed the region under a Slight Risk, Level 2 of 5, for severe thunderstorms.
How it unfolded
- Oct 16, 2026Shortly before 4 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for all 21 New Jersey counties until 10 p.m., also covering the New York City metro area; a separate watch ran until 8 p.m. for Philadelphia and most of eastern Pennsylvania.
- Oct 16, 2026Severe thunderstorm watches were posted from 3:51 to 4:02 p.m. until 10 p.m. for dozens of counties across New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, and a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect until 5:30 p.m. for Sullivan County.
- Oct 16, 2026The first severe thunderstorm warnings in New Jersey were issued between 5:34 and 5:36 p.m. for parts of Hunterdon, Morris, Warren and Somerset counties, effective until 6:15 p.m.
- Oct 16, 2026A special weather statement at 6:02 p.m. tracked a strong thunderstorm threatening parts of Passaic and Bergen counties; a 6:13 p.m. statement warned of a storm over Somerset County with gusts up to 50 mph through 7:15 p.m.
- Oct 16, 2026The severe thunderstorm warning for Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties in the Hudson Valley was allowed to expire at 6:30 p.m., while a severe thunderstorm watch remained in effect until 10 p.m. for southeastern New York.
- Oct 19, 2026The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Dona Ana County, including Dona Ana and Radium Springs, until 8:15 p.m., with 60 mph winds and quarter-sized hail possible.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- The National Weather Service said the storm that prompted the Hudson Valley warning weakened below severe limits and exited the warned area, so the warning was allowed to expire while the watch stayed in effect until 10 p.m.
- Forecasters
- Forecasters said some of the most intense thunderstorms could spawn an isolated tornado, though the tornado risk is very low for most of New Jersey.
- AccuWeather
- AccuWeather said wind gusts in the strongest storms could reach 55 to 65 mph, with a brief tornado possible in parts of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
Still unverified
Forecasters said some of the most intense thunderstorms could spawn an isolated tornado, though they put the tornado risk as very low for most of New Jersey.