EF2 Tornado — Providence, Rhode Island

2023-08-18 · near Waterman Four Corner, Providence, Rhode Island

Event narrative

A tornado caused significant damage along a discontinuous path

in Scituate, Johnston, and North Providence, Rhode Island. This

is the strongest tornado to have struck Rhode Island since the F-2

tornado in Cranston and Providence on August 7, 1986.

The tornado first touched down near Byron Randall Road in Scituate

which is where the most severe damage occurred. There were hundreds

of large trees either uprooted or snapped at their bases. One

home sustained damage to its roof, the top of its chimney was

blown off, windows were blown in, and an exterior door was

dislodged from its framing. Damage was consistent with winds of

around 115 mph which is classified as EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita

Scale.

The tornado then tracked into Johnston where it crossed I-295 at

Exit 10 and lifted a vehicle into the air before dropping it back

onto the highway. The driver was transported to an area hospital

with minor injuries. From there, the tornado moved across Bridle

Way and Carriage Way where a number of trees were snapped or

uprooted, some of which fell onto homes or vehicles. Some homes

also lost some singles from their roofs. A metal Stop sign pole

was bent in half and the sign was blown away. The tornado then

caused damage in Highland Memorial Park Cemetery where a number of

large trees were either snapped or uprooted. The damage observed

in Johnston was consistent with winds of 90 to 100 mph which is

classified as EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Finally, the tornado crossed into North Providence. Similar to

Johnston, a number of trees were either snapped or uprooted, some

falling onto homes or vehicles. Most of the damage observed was to

the north of Mineral Spring Avenue. One of the harder hit areas

included Lydia Avenue, Armand Drive, and Bennett Street where two

homes were made uninhabitable from fallen trees. The damage

observed in North Providence was consistent with winds of 90 to

100 mph which is classified as EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The National Weather Service would like to thank the Rhode Island

Emergency Management Agency, the Scituate Police Department, the

Johnston Police Department, the North Providence Fire Department,

and Skywarn Amateur Radio Operators for their assistance with the

damage survey.

Wider weather episode

A high amplitude, negatively tilted trough moving across the Great Lakes and into New England along with cold and warm front provided strong forcing which resulted in flooding, wind damage, and 5 tornadoes. In the warm sector dewpoints surged into the mid 70s with PWATs near 2 inches which led to torrential downpours. Tornadoes occurred in Scotland, Ct, Scituate, RI, North Attleboro, MA, Stoughton, MA, and Weymouth, MA. The tornadoes ranged in intensity from EF-0 to EF-2.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.7987, -71.5741)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1120133. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.