Tornado Detected on Radar Near North Plaintield, NJ This Morning, Wet Pattern Setting Up in the East This Week

National Weather Service Doppler radar detected a tornado at 9:14 a.m. near North Plainfield. NJ.  It expected that the tornado would move through Providence, Millburn and South Orange by 9:45 a.m.  The heavy thunderstorm that produced this tornado detected on Doppler moved into the Bronx and Westchester Counties producing heavy rain and winds gusts to 60 mph.  A heavy thunderstorm produced 0.73 inches of rain in Perth Amboy in less than one hour this morning.  The sky is now mostly cloudy in Perth Amboy.  A very wet weather pattern will persist for the next week or so along the entire East Coast.  Hot, dry weather continues out west.

The Tornado Warning issued by the NWS:

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
914 AM EDT MON JUL 1 2013

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON NY HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...NORTHWESTERN UNION COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY...CENTRAL ESSEX COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY... * UNTIL 945 AM EDT...* AT 913 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR NORTH PLAINFIELD...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.  * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... SUMMIT BY 925 AM... MILLBURN BY 930 AM... UNION BY 935 AM... ORANGE BY 945 AM... THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO

COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. 

Report from NJ.com:

A tornado warning issued for Union and Essex counties this morning has been lifted, but weather forecasters are still warning of major winds, torrential rain and possible flooding today.  A flash flood warning is now in effect in Passaic, Union, Bergen and Essex counties until 11:30 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Rockland and Orange counties in New York are also part of the warning.
The National Weather Service also issued a flood warning for the South Branch of the Raritan River in the Stanton section of Readington. Both Hunterdon and Somerset counties could be affected.
By 10:15 a.m., the river was at 7.4 feet, just short of the flood stage of 8 feet, the weather service said. The river should rise above the flood stage this afternoon and reach 8.7 feet by this evening, according to weather forecasters.
There should be minor flooding, but the water should recede below the flood level by tomorrow afternoon.  By 9:45 a.m., torrential rain was moving from the central part of the state to New Jersey’s northern portion, with up to 2 inches of rainfall expected this morning.
Around 9:30 a.m., the National Weather Service tracked a severe thunderstorm that was capable of producing a tornado near North Plainfield.  As a result of the heavy rain, large parts of New Providence and Berkley Heights are in the dark with outages from this morning's storm.  "Trees down, power lines down," said New Providence police Lt. Theresa Gazaway.  Crews were rushing to deal with damage on Springfield Avenue, Central Avenues and Magnolia Drive, among other streets.  There were no immediate reports of injuries, she said.

George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, LLC. George is also a meteorologist with ABC News and Cablevision News 12. Our website is WrightWeather.com.  Follow George on Twitter.