EF1 Tornado — Worcester, Massachusetts

2018-08-04 · near Webster, Worcester, Massachusetts

Event narrative

In just about one minute, an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated at 110 mph, wreaked havoc in the easternmost portion of Dudley, MA and in the downtown portion of Webster, MA. It touched down along Route 12 (Schofield Avenue) to the west of Laprise Court in Dudley and traveled northeastward onto Main Street in Webster, then lifted near the French River by Oxford Avenue.

Many trees were snapped and debarked. In Webster, a gas station overhang was twisted. An old brick rooftop was damaged, with bricks having fallen onto Main Street. The rubber roof covering of another building was peeled completely off. Windows were blown out at a business on Main Street and the street was littered with broken glass. The side walls of an apartment complex were bent slightly outward toward the tornado. Window screens were sucked outward. A car windshield and side mirror was damaged. There were other reports of trees fallen onto cars. Utility poles were snapped and numerous wires were downed. According to MEMA, at least 3 buildings were condemned and at least 5 were uninhabitable.

Nearly everyone that our survey team spoke with had heard the warning via the Wireless Emergency Alert on their cell phones as much as 20+ minutes in advance of the touchdown! This undoubtedly played a big role in the fact that there were no fatalities. According to media reports, there was one minor injury when part of a roof fell on top of a woman's car.

Wider weather episode

A moist, tropical environment was in place across southern New England on the morning of August 4th. A short-wave trough was approaching, along with a cold front. The main concern was for flash flooding, but early morning sunshine destabilized the atmosphere and contributed to the development of the tornado, which had touched down in northeast Connecticut, prior to this second touchdown.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.0456, -71.8907)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 774224. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.