kdxken Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Amazing how far the debris carried. While working today in Sherborn today I found plates, tar paper and even a six piece of plastic siding. http://www.theboston...890/detail.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamrivers Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I am not going to clog up the thread with my 100+ pictures but here is what I captured today. I started in West Springfield near Memorial Avenue and Main Street, and took a few pictures - the damage out there that I saw wasn't even close to the stuff I saw in Monson. In North Monson (Wilbraham Road), I crossed the path for the first time.....pretty surreal. Then drove into the center of Monson....and hiked up Ely Road for about 3/4 mile to get pictures there. It was surreal seeing the other side of the valley (Monson's population mainly lives in a valley surrounded by 2 mountains) damaged and seeing the path over the mountain and into Brimfield. The worst damage, as you will see in the pictures, was off of Bethany Road in Monson. The path here was at least half a mile....possibly more. A couple houses completely swept off their foundations with only the foundations remaining, another house flipped on its side. I spent a good hour walking around down there amazed at the damage. WBUR 90.9 and WBZ-4 were the only media in this area, which surprised me as the shots were a lot worse there than in the center of town where most of the media was focusing on the church and the downed steeple. I then got into Brimfield, only briefly, on Holland Road, and confirmed that the video that was posted in this thread from the garage was the garage on Holland Road as you can see a white BMW in my picture and also the video. Senator Brown was in this area touring....couldn't get into the center of Brimfield or east on route 20 towards Sturbridge... I am not a meteorologist so I am not going to speculate in regards to damage but I'd have to think EF3 in Monson and Brimfield. Maybe more. Never thought I'd see stuff like this in New England. http://www.facebook....13&l=983fabab04 is the link to the album. It works whether you have a Facebook or not or whether you're my friend on there or not. Some of the pictures you may be better off downloading and zooming in on, on your own computer to see the detail better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Some of the video I'm looking at seems to indicate the possibility of F4 damage. One wood framed house in Monson was picked up off its foundation and flipped over about 20 feet. Several others in a large subdivision have no remaining walls... including interior walls. Just a pile of debris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Some of the video I'm looking at seems to indicate the possibility of F4 damage. One wood framed house in Monson was picked up off its foundation and flipped over about 20 feet. Several others in a large subdivision have no remaining walls... including interior walls. Just a pile of debris. I won't be surprised if its rated EF4...I mean, wasn't the Great Barrington tornado rated F4 even though a lot of people think it was really an F3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Some of the video I'm looking at seems to indicate the possibility of F4 damage. One wood framed house in Monson was picked up off its foundation and flipped over about 20 feet. Several others in a large subdivision have no remaining walls... including interior walls. Just a pile of debris. The pile of debris would be more indicative of EF4 damage---if you are talking about the same house I saw in the videos, the flipped over house really suggests a much lower level of damage since the house was recognizable in its shape (i.e. not shredded). There are several examples in Grazulis' Significant Tornadoes of poorly anchored houses flipped over that he rated as F1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I won't be surprised if its rated EF4...I mean, wasn't the Great Barrington tornado rated F4 even though a lot of people think it was really an F3? Yes and this looks much more impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 The pile of debris would be more indicative of EF4 damage--- the flipped over house really suggests a much lower level of damage since the house was recognizable in its shape (i.e. not shredded). There are several examples in Grazulis' Significant Tornadoes of poorly anchored houses flipped over that he rated as F1. Good point... thanks for that. You're right it could have just been poorly anchored you can see the basement underneath... so this wasn't a slab foundation it flew off of. I've seen 3 or 4 houses with no interior walls remaining... in fact the only thing recognizable is the staircase that collapsed and was tossed. That's certainly an indication to me this could have been EF-4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Will be interesting to see who does the rating, some of the flyover video looks multiple vortex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdxken Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I am not going to clog up the thread with my 100+ pictures but here is what I captured today. I started in West Springfield near Memorial Avenue and Main Street, and took a few pictures - the damage out there that I saw wasn't even close to the stuff I saw in Monson. In North Monson (Wilbraham Road), I crossed the path for the first time.....pretty surreal. Then drove into the center of Monson....and hiked up Ely Road for about 3/4 mile to get pictures there. It was surreal seeing the other side of the valley (Monson's population mainly lives in a valley surrounded by 2 mountains) damaged and seeing the path over the mountain and into Brimfield. The worst damage, as you will see in the pictures, was off of Bethany Road in Monson. The path here was at least half a mile....possibly more. A couple houses completely swept off their foundations with only the foundations remaining, another house flipped on its side. I spent a good hour walking around down there amazed at the damage. WBUR 90.9 and WBZ-4 were the only media in this area, which surprised me as the shots were a lot worse there than in the center of town where most of the media was focusing on the church and the downed steeple. I then got into Brimfield, only briefly, on Holland Road, and confirmed that the video that was posted in this thread from the garage was the garage on Holland Road as you can see a white BMW in my picture and also the video. Senator Brown was in this area touring....couldn't get into the center of Brimfield or east on route 20 towards Sturbridge... I am not a meteorologist so I am not going to speculate in regards to damage but I'd have to think EF3 in Monson and Brimfield. Maybe more. Never thought I'd see stuff like this in New England. http://www.facebook....13&l=983fabab04 is the link to the album. It works whether you have a Facebook or not or whether you're my friend on there or not. Some of the pictures you may be better off downloading and zooming in on, on your own computer to see the detail better. Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisM Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 "chasing western mass weather since 2008" -- so this was prob their first good storm? i think there are a lot of storm chasers who are not really storm chasers... imo if someone puts themselves in that position (he could have been killed pretty easily) then they aren't that good at what they do. i guess the one argument that can be made is that media buys up these vids that are way too close, so others feel like they need to do it themselves to have a shot. part of it is that they were chasing in an urban environment too. Out in the midwest you can safely chase from a mile away and see the tornado perfectly and where it's going. When I was in springfield yesterday I had no idea where the tornado was, or where it was going. It was incredibly disorienting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 part of it is that they were chasing in an urban environment too. Out in the midwest you can safely chase from a mile away and see the tornado perfectly and where it's going. When I was in springfield yesterday I had no idea where the tornado was, or where it was going. It was incredibly disorienting. there is some point to that tho the dynamics of a storm are pretty much the same no matter where it is. maybe there should be training to be a chaser.. like flying on instruments. imo if you are disoriented to the point of not knowing where you are in relation to the potential tornado you don't have much business chasing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Does anyone know if there was any damage/power outages in East Longmeadow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Good point... thanks for that. You're right it could have just been poorly anchored you can see the basement underneath... so this wasn't a slab foundation it flew off of. I've seen 3 or 4 houses with no interior walls remaining... in fact the only thing recognizable is the staircase that collapsed and was tossed. That's certainly an indication to me this could have been EF-4. When I brought up that possibility this morning The Trials poster threw a complete tantrum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 When I brought up that possibility this morning The Trials poster threw a complete tantrum Yeah I don't know why. It looks like solid EF-3... some houses seem candidates for EF-4 but it's hard to say from a distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamrivers Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Does anyone know if there was any damage/power outages in East Longmeadow? Power outages yes.....they set up a shelter at one of the elementary schools as well.....I do not believe there was much if any damage from the tornado though... if so it would likely be on the far northeastern part of town near Allen Street and I drove through there last night and didn't see anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamrivers Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 When I brought up that possibility this morning The Trials poster threw a complete tantrum I just read the definitions. The damage I saw near Bethany Road and the streets east of it (my pix 68-103), as well as in Brimfield at Holland Road (109-118) certainly might be EF-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Yeah I don't know why. It looks like solid EF-3... some houses seem candidates for EF-4 but it's hard to say from a distance. Based on our past tornadoes here and the damage we've seen, I think it would be a total shock if this was rated lower than EF3...the only question I think is if there are pockets of legit EF4 damage and I'm sure they'll assess that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 So the Munger school from Westfield Mass was scheduled to visit the museum today, got word the school was hit by the tornado so they cancelled. Sad, but we are going to hook them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Power outages yes.....they set up a shelter at one of the elementary schools as well.....I do not believe there was much if any damage from the tornado though... if so it would likely be on the far northeastern part of town near Allen Street and I drove through there last night and didn't see anything. I work with alot of folks that live in Springfield, West Spfd, and East Longmeadow..Many had tales of horror today. Just fascinating to hear their accounts. The guy in East Longmeadow..said there lots of wires and trees down there and he is w/o power until Saturday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sojitodd Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 His car after the video, lucky This video is by far the best display of what it is like to be in a car during a tornado(he is lucky he did not get killed). It gives at least a clue of what it would be like to be in a something like the Joplin tornado-except what this guy experienced woud likely have been the last thing he experienced before he was killed. It really shows how vulnerable he was- you can just feel the sense of being 'trapped' and pummeled relentlessly. Seriously scary stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamrivers Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I work with alot of folks that live in Springfield, West Spfd, and East Longmeadow..Many had tales of horror today. Just fascinating to hear their accounts. The guy in East Longmeadow..said there lots of wires and trees down there and he is w/o power until Saturday That's my usual way of driving home....so I will see tonight when I drive home and let ya know. One of my best friends from high school lives in East Longmeadow near Franconia GC... said just branches down, nothing serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 When I brought up that possibility this morning The Trials poster threw a complete tantrum you're always very certain in your statements... and they often have to do with very uncertain things. but you did call the outbreak topping 1974 before it was official so maybe you're not as dumb as you sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 you're always very certain in your statements... and they often have to do with very uncertain things. but you did call the outbreak topping 1974 before it was official so maybe you're not as dumb as you sound. If it looks like there's a chance..you go for the whole thing..you don't hold back or proceed with caution..you grab a handful of ballz, and you throw them as hard as you can against the wall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Amazing how far the debris carried. While working today in Sherborn today I found plates, tar paper and even a six piece of plastic siding. http://www.theboston...890/detail.html I saw your piece on WCVB. Very cool. Should have mentioned AmWx. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 If it looks like there's a chance..you go for the whole thing..you don't hold back or proceed with caution..you grab a handful of ballz, and you throw them as hard as you can against the wall the jb school.. fair enough. you do get a bad rap here and there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 the jb school.. fair enough. you do get a bad rap here and there... Hype coupled with good solid forecasting is what the public wants. A good mix of both and you have a winner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Hype coupled with good solid forecasting is what the public wants. A good mix of both and you have a winner So you are half of a winner... not bad for a check salesman What a day. Some of the most fascinating 24-36 hours of weather that I can remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Hype coupled with good solid forecasting is what the public wants. A good mix of both and you have a winner hard to argue with that, tho i guess you dont even need that much solid forecasting as long as you keep folks interested. to me it's sort of a shame the weather biz has gone so heavily that direction the past 10 yrs or so.. but i guess it is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Did anyone add this yet? I did copy it from a wunderground blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 hard to argue with that, tho i guess you dont even need that much solid forecasting as long as you keep folks interested. to me it's sort of a shame the weather biz has gone so heavily that direction the past 10 yrs or so.. but i guess it is what it is. Well people like excitement and big events..not just weenies..but the general public.. If you always hype everything you'll fail..so you need to pick and choose when and what to hype... The fact is and whether it's a good thing or not I don't know..but if you're afraid of failing and always take the safe, cautious , middle of the road approach..you'll always be just that...... average. In order to succeed you can't be afraid to fail and take big risks... Obviously I'm not a met, but if I had followed my dream growing up and done that..it's the way i would forecast..I'd fail sometimes sure, but when I'd hit..it'd be a grand slam..and THAT is what folks ultimately remember you for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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