Monmouth County Under Tornado Watch Through 4 PM

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch in effect for Central New Jersey until 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Monmouth County is included in the watch area, as well as Mercer and Middlesex, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Warren and Ocean, Atlantic, Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties in South Jersey. Towns specifically named were East Brunswick, North Brunswick, Edison, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Flemington and Freehold.

The Ocean County Airport reported a wind gust of 70 MPH, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday morning.

The biggest impacts of strong winds and heavy rain will occur between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday. Wind gusts of 50 - 60 mph (upwards of 65 mph) midday/early afternoon will lead to widespread areas of power outages/downed trees.

Pennsylvania is under the watch advisory as well.

Gov. Murphy declared a state of emergency beginning at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, allowing resources to be deployed throughout the state during the duration of Hurricane Isaias. State offices were closed Tuesday.

“Hurricane Isaias is expected to impact the state with severe weather conditions, including strong winds and heavy rainfall,” said the governor. “The safety of our residents is our main priority, and we urge everyone to be informed of local weather conditions and to stay off the roads.”