Weather service says damage was consistent with that of a strong thunderstorm, and there were no signs of a funnel cloud.
Trees were toppled, a large truck was blown onto its side and a high school sports scoreboard was blown down when a line of powerful thunderstorms swept through New Jersey on Tuesday.
Even though some of the damage looked like something left in the wake of a small tornado, the National Weather Service believes it was nothing more than a nasty thunderstorm with wind gusts as strong as 60 to 70 mph.
"We received no reports of funnel clouds, and there was no evidence of rotation on radar," said Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service regional office in Mount Holly. "It looks like it was all straight-line wind damage."
Trees damage homes, property in South Jersey after severe storm
"Unfortunately, when you have straight-line winds in severe thunderstorms, those can do as much damage as those from a lower-end tornado," Johnson said. "We still can see a considerable amount of damage."
Police and residents across Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties reported numerous trees and power lines toppled by Tuesday's fast-moving storms. Some reported damaged roofs, and thousands of homes and businesses lost power.
In addition, the weather service reported a scoreboard outside Gloucester City Junior-Senior High School in Camden County was blown down, and a tractor-trailer on the Camden side of the Walt Whitman Bridge was blown into its side as the thunderstorms moved through the area.
One wind gust was estimated at 60 to 70 mph near the border of Pittsgrove and Elmer in Salem County, the weather service said. Although that was not measured by a wind speed gauge, so it cannot be verified, the storm damage reported in the area was consistent with winds that strong, Johnson said.
The biggest wind gust measured by a weather station anywhere in New Jersey on Tuesday was 60 mph, in Seaside Heights, Johnson said. Not far behind was a 57 mph wind speed recorded in West Deptford.
In addition, several wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph were reported Tuesday by the New Jersey Weather and Climate Network, operated by the New Jersey State Climatology Office at Rutgers University. Those gusts were detected in Sea Girt, Upper Deerfield and Harvey Cedars.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.