Why Does Central Massachusetts Get Hit with so Many Tornadoes?

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Although Worcester County is thousands of miles away from “Tornado Alley,” the county has long been plagued by both frequent and damaging tornadoes.

According to data from the Tornado History Project, there have been 159 tornadoes in Massachusetts from August 21st, 1951 to September 1st, 2013, with 41 of the tornadoes occurring in Worcester County.

“There is no particular reason why any one county in the New England area would be more vulnerable than another,” said Bill Simpson, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service. “Worcester County has seen more tornadoes for a combination of reasons, mostly due to the fact that the area is more prepared to spot a tornado. It has a lot to do with population density of a given area. Additionally, the network, and reporting methods have increased and improved over time, allowing for tornadoes to be registered and reported more easily.”

The Tornado History Project says that Massachusetts’ tornadoes have accounted for 94 fatalities and 1559 injuries since 1951. According to Simpson, a tornado needs a combination of a thunderstorm and a mix of hot, humid air with cool, dry air to start to spin.

Worcester Update

The National Weather Service confirmed early Monday morning that a tornado did in fact touch down on Sunday evening between 8:10 pm and 8:14 pm near the intersection of Perry Avenue and Fairfax Road. Wind speeds reached up to 85 mph and the tornado travelled a distance of 1.7 miles, classifying the tornado as an EF0, the lowest classification of tornado on the scale.

According to the city of Worcester as of noon on Monday, there have been no reported injuries or deaths as of yet, although there have been reports of property damage and around 200 power outages.

“Crews are working to restore power to those affected, and electricity will be restored throughout the day,” read a statement from the city of Worcester. “Worcester DPW & Parks Forestry and Emergency Teams have been triaging streets and removing downed trees since last night. They are in full operation today. Residents are asked to stay away from downed power lines and areas of flooding where power lines may not be visible.”

Flashback to 1953

Anytime a major storm makes its way through Worcester, residents are always reminded of the Worcester tornado of 1953, a tornado that accounted for 93 fatalities and 1228 injuries, making it one of the most deadly weather events in Massachusetts’ history.

Worcester and NWS officials are continuing to survey damages to determine how much damage was caused to the city. Although it expects to be nowhere near the $52 million in damage ($349 million when adjusted for inflation) caused by the 1953 tornado, there have been a few buildings and vehicles damaged, as well downed power lines.

“Overall… the damage was mostly to trees… some of which were uprooted or snapped,” read a statement from the National Weather Service's Taunton office. “The snapping occurred 40-50 feet above the ground in some location 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 the area that is relatively densely populated with homes. A few windows were broken but by branches hitting them and not by being blown out.”

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Why Does Central Massachusetts Get Hit with so Many Tornadoes?

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