Great Writeup of June 01 EF3 Tornado tha tore thre S/Cent. Mass

[Damage In Tolland]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA

1000 AM EDT TUE MAY 1 2012

...SEVERE WEATHER PREPAREDNESS WEEK - THE JUNE 1 TORNADO OF 2011...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS DECLARED THE WEEK OF APRIL 30 TO

MAY 4 2012 AS SEVERE WEATHER PREPAREDNESS WEEK. THE FOLLOWING IS THE

SECOND IN A SERIES OF INFORMATIONAL STATEMENTS.

THE YEAR 2011 WAS THE SECOND DEADLIEST TORNADO YEAR IN U.S.

HISTORY...WITH 553 FATALITIES DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO TORNADOES

ACROSS THE NATION. THE WORST YEAR WAS IN 1925 WHEN THERE WERE 794

FATALITIES. SADLY...3 OF THE FATALITIES IN 2011 OCCURRED HERE IN NEW

ENGLAND IN THE DEVASTATING TORNADO THAT OCCURRED IN MASSACHUSETTS ON

JUNE 1.

JUNE 1 WAS A VERY UNSTABLE DAY...CHARACTERIZED BY HIGH CONVECTIVE

AVAILABLE POTENTIAL ENERGY (CAPE) AND HIGH WIND SHEAR...BOTH IN

SPEED AND DIRECTION. A COLD FRONT CROSSED SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND IN

THE EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS MOVED THROUGH IN THE EARLY MORNING

HOURS...FOLLOWED BY SUNSHINE AND ABUNDANT HEATING. THE STAGE WAS SET

FOR VIOLENT WEATHER AND A TORNADO WATCH WAS ISSUED BY THE STORM

PREDICTION CENTER. ABOUT FOUR HOURS LATER...A SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM

DEVELOPED OVER WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. IT STRENGTHENED AND PRODUCED A

VERY LONG-LIVED TORNADO THAT DID EXTENSIVE DAMAGE ACROSS SOUTHWEST

AND SOUTH CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS.

THE STORM WILL BE NOTED IN HISTORY NOT ONLY FOR ITS INTENSITY BUT

ITS CONTINUOUS DAMAGE PATH...WHICH WAS 39 MILES. THE TORNADO BEGAN

IN WESTFIELD IN HAMPDEN COUNTY AND ENDED UP IN CHARLTON IN WORCESTER

COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS ALSO VERY WIDE AT SOME POINTS...REACHING A

MAXIMUM OF ONE-HALF MILE. IT WAS ON THE GROUND FROM 417 PM UNTIL 527

PM EDT...70 MINUTES AND HAD A MAXIMUM RATING OF EF-3 ON THE ENHANCED

FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE. ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED WAS 160 MPH. BY

COMPARISON...THE WORST TORNADO IN NEW ENGLAND HISTORY...THE

WORCESTER TORNADO OF 1953...WAS ON THE GROUND FOR 46 MILES AND

LASTED FOR 84 MINUTES.

THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN IN THE MUNGER HILL SECTION OF

WESTFIELD WITH DAMAGE MAINLY LIMITED TO TREES...MANY UPROOTED AND

SNAPPED. THE ROOF OF MUNGER HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS DAMAGED. THE

TORNADO RAPIDLY INTENSIFIED AS IT MOVED INTO WEST SPRINGFIELD

CAUSING EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS AND HOMES. NUMEROUS

ROOFS WERE REMOVED...A FEW STRUCTURES COLLAPSED...AND SEVERAL

MULTI-STORY BUILDINGS LOST THEIR UPPER STORIES.

THE TORNADO THEN CROSSED THE CONNECTICUT RIVER AT THE MEMORIAL

AVENUE BRIDGE AND INTO THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD. IT CAUSED EXTENSIVE

DAMAGE TO THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA WITH MANY HOMES

DESTROYED. COMMERCIAL BRICK BUILDINGS SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE AND

THEIR ROOFS WERE BLOWN OFF. THERE WAS SEVERE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO

TOWNHOMES AND APARTMENTS NEAR SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE. IT CONTINUED

MOVING EAST INTO THE ISLAND POND SECTION OF SPRINGFIELD WHERE

CATHEDRAL HIGH SCHOOL AND ST. MICHAELS ACADEMY SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT

DAMAGE AND MANY HOMES WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED.

FARTHER TO THE EAST...NEAR THE WILBRAHAM/HAMPDEN TOWN LINE...THE

TORNADO PRODUCED NEARLY COMPLETE DEFORESTATION AND SIGNIFICANT

DAMAGE TO NEARBY STRUCTURES. WIDESPREAD DAMAGE OCCURRED IN MONSON AS

IT MOVED DIRECTLY THROUGH THE CENTER OF TOWN. MANY HOMES WERE

COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO COMMERCIAL

BUILDINGS. THE ROOF OF MONSON HIGH SCHOOL WAS DESTROYED. BARK WAS

STRIPPED FROM TREE TRUNKS.

THE NEXT TARGET WAS THE BRIMFIELD STATE FOREST WHERE THE TORNADO

REACHED ITS MAXIMUM WIDTH OF ONE-HALF MILE. ADDITIONAL DAMAGE

OCCURRED BEFORE IT CROSSED INTO WORCESTER COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF ROUTE

20.

THREE FATALITIES WERE DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE TORNADO...TWO IN

WEST SPRINGFIELD AND ONE IN BRIMFIELD. A WOMAN IN WEST SPRINGFIELD

WAS KILLED WHEN HER HOUSE COLLAPSED ON HER WHILE SHE SHELTERED HER

TEENAGE DAUGHTER IN A BATHTUB. ALSO IN WEST SPRINGFIELD A MAN WAS

KILLED WHEN HIS VAN WAS CRUSHED BY A FALLING TREE. IN BRIMFIELD...

A WOMAN WAS KILLED WHEN THE TRAILER HOME SHE WAS LIVING IN WAS

THROWN 35 FEET INTO THE AIR. IN ADDITION...200 PEOPLE WERE TREATED

FOR INJURIES SUSTAINED IN THE TORNADO.

IN TOTAL...IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT 1400 HOUSES AND AT LEAST 78

BUSINESSES WERE EITHER DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. OF THE 1400

HOUSES...ROUGHLY 300 WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED INCLUDING 200 IN

SPRINGFIELD...51 IN MONSON...39 IN BRIMFIELD...AND 13 IN WILBRAHAM.

NEARLY 10000 ACRES OF WOODLANDS WERE DESTROYED. IN SPRINGFIELD

ALONE...7500 MATURE TREES WERE UPROOTED OR DESTROYED.

AS IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH...THERE WERE TWO OTHER TORNADOES THAT

OCCURRED ON JUNE 1 2011 IN MASSACHUSETTS...LESS THAN 2 HOURS AFTER

THE MAJOR TORNADO. A TORNADO WITH A DAMAGE RATING OF EF1 TOUCHED

DOWN IN WILBRAHAM BETWEEN 632 PM AND 640 PM... AND A TORNADO WITH A

RATING OF EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN BETWEEN 654 PM AND 657 PM IN

NORTH BRIMFIELD. NO INJURIES OR FATALITIES OCCURRED WITH THESE

TORNADOES...HOWEVER THERE WAS ADDITIONAL TREE DAMAGE.

$$

FIELD

[Guvna]

Never forget that day. I was able to see the 2nd tornado in Brimfield. Could only imagine what the first one would've been like.

[Ginx snewx]

Except it was a 3

[Damage In Tolland]

Except it was a 3

Those of us that went there and surveyed the damage agree it was an ef4 regardless of what it was filed as.

[Ginx snewx]

Those of us that went there and surveyed the damage agree it was an ef4 regardless of what it was filed as.

LOL yea ECK , Eleanor and crew must appreciate your superior knowledge and investigative skills. F4 fetish phail.

[Damage In Tolland]

LOL yea ECK , Eleanor and crew must appreciate your superior knowledge and investigative skills. F4 fetish phail.

Hmm..as a matter of fact..some of the mets that I personally know and have talked to privately about this very topic..agree with me.

Please don't speak upon what you do not know.

[Ginx snewx]

Hmm..as a matter of fact..some of the mets that I personally know and have talked to privately about this very topic..agree with me.

Please don't speak upon what you do not know.

I thought it looked 4 to me but who the heck am I. They have tornado damage experience and training? Just being a met does not mean much.

[Damage In Tolland]

I thought it looked 4 to me but who the heck am I. They have tornado damage experience and training? Just being a met does not mean much.

Yes and yes. And they were there

[TheTrials]

Those of us that went there and surveyed the damage agree it was an ef4 regardless of what it was filed as.

Eckster schooled you on this last year, as did several of the mid-west mets who see tornado damage on a regular basis, but congrats on being smarter than them without the education or learned knowledge.

[Ginx snewx]

Eckster schooled you on this last year, as did several of the mid-west mets who see tornado damage on a regular basis, but congrats on being smarter than them without the education or learned knowledge.

But some unnamed mets say so. It's actualy insulting to his other friends to question their professional integrity like this. Imagine if they called out his integrity in his sales decisions.

[TheTrials]

But some unnamed mets say so. It's actualy insulting to his other friends to question their professional integrity like this. Imagine if they called out his integrity in his sales decisions.

I'm sure the NWS appreciates his accusations, as do the people who run this site who hope for it to have credibility in the real met world. Statements like his do nothing for the board except hurt its reputation.

[forkyfork]

if the nws thinks it was a 3, it was a 3

[Damage In Tolland]

But some unnamed mets say so. It's actualy insulting to his other friends to question their professional integrity like this. Imagine if they called out his integrity in his sales decisions.

It's not insulting anyone at all to voice an opinion. Have you ever heard of thinking "outside the box". ? Sounds like you and trials are just sheep following the herd. In sales you need to question, challenge, and strategically partner..not follow something because someone says so. Always question questionable things

[forkyfork]

as though an EF3 in new england isn't an extraordinary event

[Hoosier]

There is a margin of error with these things. Hypothetically you could have 3 survey teams look at the same damage and 2 might think high end EF3 and the other low end EF4. At the end of the day you sorta have to go with the official rating.

[Turtle]

There is a margin of error with these things. Hypothetically you could have 3 survey teams look at the same damage and 2 might think high end EF3 and the other low end EF4. At the end of the day you sorta have to go with the official rating.

100% agree with your comments.

I was on that team, and it was very close. Estimated max winds of 160 mph is a high end EF3. And that's the reason why there is a TEAM working on the survey, not just one person. While one or two people on the team may think it was a 4, guess what? It is a collaborative effort, including one team member that worked with the Enhanced Fujita scale on a regular basis in the midwest. That was extremely helpful in our office members that were on the team to learn from that experience!!! This was only the second time we used the EF scale to rate a tornado since it went into effect in 2007.

BTW, I wanted to let you know that we sent a correction to the original PNS that was issued at 10 AM. There were THREE more tornadoes on June 1, not two. The last short track (only on the ground 3 minutes!) tornado was in Sturbridge. You can see the details on the NCDC Storm Data page.

--Turtle

[HoarfrostHubb]

I really enjoyed Turtle's mini presentation at last summer's SNE gtg. Very interesting and revealing.

Go Blizz!

[Baroclinic Zone]

100% agree with your comments.

I was on that team, and it was very close. Estimated max winds of 160 mph is a high end EF3. And that's the reason why there is a TEAM working on the survey, not just one person. While one or two people on the team may think it was a 4, guess what? It is a collaborative effort, including one team member that worked with the Enhanced Fujita scale on a regular basis in the midwest. That was extremely helpful in our office members that were on the team to learn from that experience!!! This was only the second time we used the EF scale to rate a tornado since it went into effect in 2007.

BTW, I wanted to let you know that we sent a correction to the original PNS that was issued at 10 AM. There were THREE more tornadoes on June 1, not two. The last short track (only on the ground 3 minutes!) tornado was in Sturbridge. You can see the details on the NCDC Storm Data page.

--Turtle

Eleanor, do you happen to have a path of that one? I was in Sturbridge a few weeks after on vacation.

Thank you and Hoosier for chiming in on the thread.

[Ginx snewx]

NWS answered my question on FB

US National Weather Service Boston MA Hi Steve. The determination was made after a comprehensive storm survey of the damage by air and on the ground which took 2 days to complete. Many factors were taken into consideration including the construction of damaged homes and buildings and extent of tree damage. Our survey team also included a national expert who had experience rating damage from significant tornadoes (EF3 and greater). While the damage was certainly extensive and significant, the team concluded it did not quite reach the criteria for an EF4 tornado. More information on the EF Scale can be found at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/.

Storm Prediction Center Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale)

www.spc.noaa.gov

Severe weather information from the Storm Prediction Center.

2 hours ago · Like

[Guvna]

100% agree with your comments.

I was on that team, and it was very close. Estimated max winds of 160 mph is a high end EF3. And that's the reason why there is a TEAM working on the survey, not just one person. While one or two people on the team may think it was a 4, guess what? It is a collaborative effort, including one team member that worked with the Enhanced Fujita scale on a regular basis in the midwest. That was extremely helpful in our office members that were on the team to learn from that experience!!! This was only the second time we used the EF scale to rate a tornado since it went into effect in 2007.

BTW, I wanted to let you know that we sent a correction to the original PNS that was issued at 10 AM. There were THREE more tornadoes on June 1, not two. The last short track (only on the ground 3 minutes!) tornado was in Sturbridge. You can see the details on the NCDC Storm Data page.

--Turtle

I'm glad they included the tornado in Sturbridge becasue I followed the circulation all the way from Brimfield through Sturbridge on rt.20.....what a rush! Thanks Turtle!

[dendrite]

It's not insulting anyone at all to voice an opinion. Have you ever heard of thinking "outside the box". ? Sounds like you and trials are just sheep following the herd. In sales you need to question, challenge, and strategically partner..not follow something because someone says so. Always question questionable things

You like to throw opinions out there without backing up your case. What exactly warranted an EF4 rating from the damage you witnessed?

[Guvna]

You like to throw opinions out there without backing up your case. What exactly warranted an EF4 rating from the damage you witnessed?

Not to Blizz's defense, but I saw one "newer" house completely wiped off its foundation on Rt.19 in Brimfield. Not sure if that constitutes EF4 damage or not, but to me, everything else looked like high end EF3. Impressive either way.

In the end, it's the professionals that have the knowledge base to make the justification.

[Ginx snewx]

Not to Blizz's defense, but I saw one "newer" house completely wiped off its foundation on Rt.19 in Brimfield. Not sure if that constitutes EF4 damage or not, but to me, everything else looked like high end EF3. Impressive either way.

In the end, it's the professionals that have the knowledge base to make the justification.

some of the more heavy damage pics

[dendrite]

Not to Blizz's defense, but I saw one "newer" house completely wiped off its foundation on Rt.19 in Brimfield. Not sure if that constitutes EF4 damage or not, but to me, everything else looked like high end EF3. Impressive either way.

In the end, it's the professionals that have the knowledge base to make the justification.

I'm all for debate. I just wanted to see some reasoning from him with some pics/facts to back up his claims.

[Quincy]

Very scary to know that such a severe storm can impact even southern New England. It really wasnt' that much further north than the Windsor Locks tornado and the damage spread to just one town north of where I lived for a while, in Woodstock, CT.

I drove up there several weeks after the tornado hit and the damage just in the Sturbridge/Southbridge area was pretty intense. I'm sure it was much worse just a bit further to the west. I don't have an image on this machine, but the debris ball signature on the radar was impressive, not something you'd expect to see in southern New England.

[HoarfrostHubb]

ORH was an F5 before history was rewritten...

[Guvna]

ORH was an F5 before history was rewritten...

From the damage in Shrewsbury, I'd have to agree. Even Holden was hit pretty bad, but not as many pics as in ORH to justify. I take a trek out to the Brimfield area every other week or so, and am still astonished at the devastation that occurred there. Coming around the bend heading West on Rt. 20 and "bam" .......destruction as far as you can see.

[HoarfrostHubb]

From the damage in Shrewsbury, I'd have to agree. Even Holden was hit pretty bad, but not as many pics as in ORH to justify. I take a trek out to the Brimfield area every other week or so, and am still astonished at the devastation that occurred there. Coming around the bend heading West on Rt. 20 and "bam" .......destruction as far as you can see.

You witnessed the destruction? Cool (well, from a met way...still not a big fan of damaging life and property)

[Guvna]

You witnessed the destruction? Cool (well, from a met way...still not a big fan of damaging life and property)

I've always been a tornado nut and to have it happen close to home was a rarity. Do I wish destruction on people and property??? No. I actually helped homeowners that were on the outskirts of the damage remove debris from their yards 2 days after it hit. I think they were still in shock that it happened.

[Turtle]

Eleanor, do you happen to have a path of that one? I was in Sturbridge a few weeks after on vacation.

Thank you and Hoosier for chiming in on the thread.

Bob,

I don't have the track map available right now. I had to create the path for that tornado based on the Storm Data report into the PowerPoint slide I have. I will try to convert the slide to JPEG or GIF file and post here.

In the meantime, here's the narrative from our Storm Data report:

http://www.ncdc.noaa...s.jsp?id=310786

Enjoy!!

--Turtle