Top wind gusts reported across the state on Monday range from 45 mph to more than 60 mph.
Even though the center of a big nor'easter is still over North Carolina late Monday morning, the storm is already generating powerful winds in parts of South Jersey and along the Shore in Monmouth, Ocean and Cape May counties.
"Winds are starting to pick up," said Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's regional forecast office in Mount Holly. "We've already had wind gusts of over 55 miles per hour" as of 10 a.m.
Just one hour later, even stronger winds were whipping across the beaches along the Jersey Shore, including one gust of 63 mph recorded in Cape May.
Strong winds in Monmouth County caused a large maple tree to fall down onto a 2016 Subaru Forrester in Middletown Monday morning. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)In Middletown, winds were powerful enough Monday morning to topple a large maple tree that's believed to be about 200 years old. The tree fell onto an SUV.
Carleen Kierce, 68, said she was in her Middletown home about to drink her first cup of coffee shortly after 8 a.m. when she heard a strong gust of wind followed by a loud "whoosh."
Kierce, who lives in the Middletown Village Historic District, said she looked out her window and saw a large maple tree come crashing down. The tree lay across Red Hill Road -- and the back of her new 2016 Subaru Forrester.
"I was shocked. I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I was still sleeping," Kierce said by phone, as the roar of a chainsaw echoed in the background. "Then reality struck in. I said, 'Calm down. I'm not in the car, I'm in the house.' ... I'm just thankful. It could have been 100 times worse."
She said several Good Samaritans stopped their cars to assess the damage and make sure no one was injured.
"People stopped to see if someone was under the car," Kierce said. "I thought that was great."
In Long Branch, fire officials reported that winds ripped part of a roof off a building on Ocean Avenue, and they posted a photo on Twitter showing the damage.
Tour 4 out on the beachfront with a roof blown off a building. No injuries reported. pic.twitter.com/QdNXl66baT
-- Long Branch Fire (@LOCAL68) January 23, 2017
Top wind gusts across N.J.
Here's a look at the strongest wind gusts reported across the state as of 10:40 a.m. (This list will be updated Monday afternoon)
ATLANTIC COUNTY
- Mullica Township: 55 mph
- Atlantic City International Airport: 53 mph at 8:41 a.m.
CAMDEN COUNTY
- Pennsauken: 50 mph
- Wissinoming: 50 mph at 9:05 a.m.
CAPE MAY COUNTY
- Cape May: 63 mph at 10:16 a.m.
- Ocean City: 52 mph at 8:29 a.m.
- Port Norris (19 miles southeast): 48 mph at 9:14 a.m.
- Port Norris (13 miles east): 47 mph at 9:40 a.m.
- Cape May County Airport: 46 mph at 9:02 a.m.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY
- Fortescue: 58 mph
- Port Norris (7 miles west): 55 mph at 9:15 a.m.
- Millville Airport: 48 mph at 8:53 a.m.
- Alloway: 46 mph at 8:45 a.m.
MONMOUTH COUNTY
- Manasquan: 56 mph at 7:10 a.m.
- Sea Girt: 52 mph
- Long Branch (13 miles south-southwest): 49 mph at 9:20 a.m.
- Long Branch: 47 mph at 6:05 a.m.
- Wall (Allaire Airport): 46 mph at 7:08 a.m.
OCEAN COUNTY
- New Gretna (8 miles east-southeast of Burlington County): 57 mph at 8:20 a.m.
- Seaside Heights: 56 mph
- Tuckerton: 56 mph at 9 a.m.
- Lakehurst: 53 mph at 9:45 a.m.
- Bass River State Park: 52 mph at 10:05 a.m.
- Harvey Cedars: 52 mph
Note: The wind speeds above were reported by the National Weather Service and the New Jersey Weather & Climate Network at Rutgers University.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.