Once again, a tornado impacts New England, with late "official" warning. With no surprise, finger pointing and blame game ensues.
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NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
115 AM EDT MON SEP 1 2014
...TORNADO CONFIRMED IN WORCESTER MA ON AUGUST 31 2014...
LOCATION...WORCESTER IN WORCESTER COUNTY MA
DATE...AUGUST 31 2014
ESTIMATED TIME...810-814 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF0
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...85 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...0.1 MILES
PATH LENGTH...1.7 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...42.24N / 71.80W
ENDING LAT/LON...42.26N / 71.77W
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0
...SUMMARY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON MA HAS CONFIRMED THAT A
A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN THE CITY OF WORCESTER MA ON AUGUST 31
2014.
A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TEAM INVESTIGATED THE DAMAGE WITH THE
HELP OF A MEMBER OF THE WORCESTER EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY LATE
THIS EVENING. NUMEROUS REPORTS FROM AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS AND
SKYWARN SPOTTERS HELPED FOCUS WHICH AREAS WERE IN NEED OF
INVESTIGATION.
THE INITIAL TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PERRY
AVENUE AND FAIRFAX ROAD...JUST TO THE EAST OF INTERSTATE 290 AND
NORTH OF ROUTE 146. THERE WAS A WELL-DEFINED NARROW PATH OF
DAMAGE THAT EXTENDED NORTHEASTWARD FOR NEARLY 1.7 MILES...PASSING
JUST EAST OF SAINT VINCENT HOSPITAL AND ENDING ON GORDON STREET...
JUST NORTH OF HAMILTON STREET AND WEST OF HARRINGTON WAY.
NO DAMAGE WAS SEEN NEAR NORTH HIGH SCHOOL.
OVERALL...THE DAMAGE WAS MOSTLY TO TREES...SOME OF WHICH WERE
UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. THE SNAPPING OCCURRED 40-50 FEET ABOVE THE
GROUND IN SOME LOCATIONS AND CLOSER TO THE BASES AT OTHER
LOCATIONS. SOME TREES LANDED ON CARS CAUSING SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO
THE CARS. A COUPLE OF TREES ALSO LANDED ON HOMES. HOWEVER THERE
WAS LITTLE IF ANY STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO HOMES IN AN AREA THAT IS
RELATIVELY DENSELY POPULATED WITH HOMES. A FEW WINDOWS WERE
BROKEN...BUT BY BRANCHES HITTING THEM AND NOT BY BEING BLOW OUT.
ON HEYWOOD STREET TO THE EAST OF SAINT VINCENT HOSPITAL...A FEW
NARROW METAL POLES WERE SNAPPED BUT THE POLES HAD NETTING
ATTACHED TO THEM WHICH COULD HAVE ACTED SOMEWHAT AS A SAIL.
A SOCCER NET WAS ENTANGLED IN TREES. IN A FIELD...A FEW LARGE
BRANCHES WERE FOUND THAT APPARENTLY HAD BEEN AIRBORN AND DEPOSITED
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD...FAR FROM ANY TREES. THERE WAS
DISTINCT EVIDENCE OF TORNADIC FLOW...WITH TREES BLOWN DOWN FROM
SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST ON ONE SIDE AND NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST ON
THE OTHER SIDE AT THAT LOCATION.
ACCORDING TO THE DEGREES OF DAMAGE PORTION OF THE ENHANCED FUJITA
SCALE...THE MAJORITY OF THE DAMAGE WAS AT THE VERY HIGH END OF THE
EF0 SCALE...WHICH CORRESPONDS TO WIND SPEEDS OF APPROXIMATELY
85 MPH. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC DEBRIS SIGNATURE AT
811 PM AND THUS WE ESTIMATE THAT THE TORNADO BEGAN AT 810 PM AND
WAS ON THE GROUND UNTIL 814 PM. RADAR INDICATED THAT THE DEBRIS
SIGNATURE CONTINUED FOR SEVERAL MORE MINUTES WITH ROTATION
CONTINUING ALOFT...BUT THERE WAS NO MORE EVIDENCE OF DAMAGE ON THE
GROUND AFTER 814 PM.
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