1 Year Ago: Springfield Tornado: June 1, 2011
By WXedge Staff on May 28, 2012, 12:00pm
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A review by the National Weather Service out of Taunton, Massachusetts:
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
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