Waterspout Reported in South Jersey

The National Weather Service received several reports of a waterspout in the area of Great Bay between Atlantic and Ocean counties Tuesday afternoon.

NWS meteorologist Walter Drag said that two inbound aircraft, as well as three other people, reported seeing the funnel cloud.

“The reports were that it was stationary for at least 8 to 10 minutes,” he said. “That matches our radar information. It was over the water, to our knowledge. To our knowledge, it didn’t encounter any mariners or crafts. I’m not going to make an estimate. It looked pretty weak to us, but it’s a viable waterspout. It was certainly was a funnel cloud.”

Steve Pellettiere, of Ion Weather, was vacationing in Brigantine when he saw the funnel cloud. He described it as being over marshes around 4:40 p.m. He said that it was part of the thunderstorm in the Pleasantville area at that time.

Drag said the storm may have been more notable than the waterspout.

“I don’t want to blow this out of proportion,” Drag said. “Especially since there’s no injuries, no damage, over the water. There was a pretty big rain storm in that area near Great Bay, for an hour or two prior to that. And the flooding that it caused may have been more of a problem than somebody seeing a waterspout.”

Information from: Press of Atlantic City; http://www.pressofac.com