First Alert Weather: EF-2 tornado tore through Mercer County, New Jersey during Tuesday's storm

Tuesday's tornado was just the fifth twister to hit New Jersey during the month of February since 1950. 

The Garden State has never seen a winter tornado in December or January. 

New Jersey's state climatologist and professor at Rutgers University Dr. David Robinson joined us to discuss the unusual weather event. 

He spoke about how common tornadoes are in our area, what the National Weather Service looks for to determine the strength of a storm, and how the warm winter weather could be a factor. 

The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-2 tornado touched down in New Jersey on Tuesday afternoon. 

The twister packed winds of up to 115 mph, uprooting trees and damaging homes. 

Close to 75 people now have no place to live.

Crews are cleaning up the huge mess left behind by the tornado, which swept through the Lawrence Square Village condo complex. The tornado tore off rooftops and pulled out building sidings in Lawrence Township. 

Janet Bianco is one of dozens of people now unable to get into her unit. 

"Displaced. And now I know how they feel in Florida with hurricanes, and the Midwest with tornadoes. Awful that you can't return to you home," Bianco said. "I was one of the fortunate ones. I have minimal damage, just one of my windows broken.''

Julia Muziani, her boyfriend and two kids were not as fortunate. Their top floor unit was hit hard. 

"Our windows were broken. Our roof got ripped off. The siding's off. So until they can see the extent of the damage... they told us not to come back or whatever you can because we're boarding up your building," Muziani said. 

Video posted to social media shows residents shouting to get inside as the tornado moved in. 

"It came through the development. I knew it was a tornado with the uprooted trees and all the debris," Bianco said. 

"At least 27 units that were deemed uninhabitable as officials are assessing damage, we may see that number grow," said Diane Concannon of the American Red Cross. 

In addition to all of the downed trees, there's debris strewn all over the place. 

Luckily, no one was injured.

The National Weather Service said Wednesday afternoon that Tuesday's tornado in Mercer County was an EF-2, packing peak winds of 110-115 mph, estimated. 

The tornado touched down in Lawrence Township at 3:35 p.m. and lasted six minutes, ending at 3:41 p.m. in West Windsor Township. 

The Red Cross of New Jersey wrote on Twitter that they have helped 54 people and met 22 families in the region following the tornado. 

The cleanup is underway right now in Mercer County.

Chopper 2 was over the damage in Lawrence Township on Wednesday morning, including toppled trees and a roof ripped from its foundation.

The National Weather Service has been in the neighborhood surveying the damage. The next step is figuring out the wind speed of Tuesday afternoon's tornado.

The twister brought down trees, damaged a dozen homes, and left 75 people without a place to live.

Residents were cleaning up a huge mess left behind by the tornado that rolled through the Lawrence Square Village condo complex, as well as two other Mercer County communities.

Red Cross officials say close to 27 families have been displaced, including Julia Muziani, her boyfriend, and two children.

"We live in the apartments right there. Our building, the windows were broken. The roof got ripped off. The siding is off. So, until they can see the extent of the damage and how long it will take, we have to evacuate," Muziani said.

The tornado moving in fiercely and suddenly. Dozens of massive trees were uprooted. Rooftops were ripped out and home siding was torn off.

"The damage here at the Lawrence Square Village complex, it's pretty significant from the storm last night," Lawrence Township Police Chief Chris Longo said. "I can tell you, in February it's not normal to have this type of damage."

In fact, since the 1950s there have only been four tornadoes in New Jersey in February. The last one happened in 1999.

CBS2 spoke to residents soon after the tornado touched down on Tuesday. They spoke of how they took cover.

"I heard a big train sound," one teenager said, "and then I went outside and all the trees were knocked over."

"I told him to get in the tub and shut the door," the child's mother said.

The Red Cross is helping those who have been forced out of their homes. 

The National Weather service confirmed Wednesday that a tornado moved through Quaker Bridge in Mercer County during Tuesday's storm. 

Today the National Weather Service will send a crew to Mercer County to determine whether a tornado actually touched down there. 

Residents in Lawrence Township say a funnel cloud came through the area around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. It uprooted trees and tore roofs off townhomes near Quakerbridge Road. 

With 27 units now deemed uninhabitable, about 100 people have been left homeless by the storm. The Red Cross is now assisting those families who need a place to stay.

Fortunately, no serious injuries were reported. 

A possible tornado touched down in Mercer County on Tuesday.

A neighborhood in Lawrence Township is in shambles after residents say a funnel cloud came through the area, but amazingly, there are no reported injuries.

Tree after tree is uprooted and overturned, and roofs have literally been ripped off some of the townhomes near Quakerbridge Road in Lawrence Township.

"I never saw like this in my whole life," Lawrence Township resident Preeti Kaur said.

"Branches were just flying in the street. Just crazy," Lawrence Township resident Debra Camilleri said.

Residents tell us the weather seemed perfectly fine up until about 3:30 p.m. when almost instantly, a funnel cloud rolled through.

"There just was a gust of wind and rain, and then the colors changed and then we saw the funnel," Lawrence Township resident Angela York said.

"I heard a big train sound, and then I went outside and all the trees were knocked over," 13-year-old Aaron Przyborowski said.

With no accessible basements in the condos, Maria Mezzina told her son to hide in the bathroom.

"I told him to get in the tub and shut the door," she said.

Now that it's over, up to 100 people are left displaced from their homes, with 27 units deemed uninhabitable, the chief of police told us.

"It's amazing what happened here, these people didn't wake up today and expect to be displaced from the storm," Police Chief Chris Longo said.

All there is to do now is start cleaning up.

Because the electric is underground there, incredibly, all the houses still have power.

The Red Cross is now helping those displaced families.

Wild weather swept through New Jersey on Tuesday, and we're getting ready for a Red Alert day on Wednesday. CBS2's Lonnie Quinn reports.

A Lawrence Township neighborhood was in shambles Tuesday night after residents say a funnel cloud came through the area, but amazingly, there were no reported injuries.

Tree after tree was uprooted and overturned, and roofs were literally ripped off some of the buildings at a townhome complex off Quakerbridge Road.

The chief of police tells us up to 100 people are displaced from their homes, with 27 units deemed uninhabitable. Residents say the weather was perfectly fine up until about 3:30 p.m., when, almost instantly, intense winds rolled through.

"I heard a big train sound, and then I went outside and all the trees were knocked over," 13-year-old Aaron Przyborowski said.

"We had some weather alerts come out that said there might be a line of severe storms coming through, but we weren't expecting this," Police Chief Chris Longo said.

Longo says he's never seen a weather event like this here in 23 years.

The Red Cross is assisting those displaced families.

Dan Rice reported on storm damage in Lawrence Township as seen from Chopper 2.

There was extensive damage in Princeton Junction, CBS2's Christine Sloan reported. 

A tree was uprooted at a condo complex. Area resident Angela York spoke with Sloan about what happened. 

"It was around 3:30, 3:45 and I was on a conference call. So was my husband. I just heard him from the background, from the back room, he was saying 'Get in the laundry room! Get in the laundry room!' We just heard this gust of wind, and then we saw the funnel come right across our window," York said. "So, definitely, very unexpected for what appeared to be a very beautiful day." 

A tornado touchdown has yet to be officially confirmed. 

York described the damage in the area.

"It's definitely a lot of damage. We've probably seen at least 20 trees, from the roots. Cattycorner to us you can see a tree on the top of one of my neighbor's cars, and that's very reminiscent of the entire neighborhood if you take a walk. Definitely a lot of cleanup, but glad that everybody appears to be safe," she added. 

York was surprised by the rapid change in the weather. 

"So unexpected. It was beautiful, not even like 10 minutes before. Then there was a gust of wind and rain, and then the colors changed, and we saw the funnel," York said. 

Images from the scene showed some of the damage the storm left in Princeton Junction, N.J. 

A tree could be seen on top of a building. 

Another structure suffered damage to its roof, and siding. 

Emergency responders were also near another structure that had damage to the side of the building. 

In Freehold, N.J., a fast-moving storm dropped hail on front yards.

Downed trees fell on top of a house in Mercer County. 

CBS2's Lonnie Quinn has more in the video above. 

You can always check the latest forecast and get the latest weather warnings and watches by CLICKING HERE. 

Photos posted to social media showed an accumulation of hail in Mercer County, N.J. 

An unusual February tornado warning was issued in Central New Jersey Tuesday. 

The warning was issued around 3:45 p.m. for Monmouth, Mercer and Middlesex counties. 

It expired just after 4 p.m.