EF0 Tornado — Washington, Rhode Island

2021-11-13 · near La Fayette, Washington, Rhode Island

Event narrative

At approximately 518 PM EST, a tornado touched down just southwest of Dillon Avenue in North Kingstown. Several large, healthy hardwood trees were uprooted or snapped, while a few standing trees were sheared at their tops. The tornado then crossed over Route 102 onto Himes Street. In addition to numerous downed hardwood trees on Himes Street, approximately four to five power poles were snapped in half and a fallen tree caused window and roof damage to a home. The tornado then continued to track northeast toward Juniper Drive, where large branches (diameter approximately 15 inches) were downed across the neighborhood. Smaller downed branches were also visible along Route 1 as the tornado moved northeast. At approximately 524 PM EST, the tornado lifted over Hopedale Avenue in Wickford. The EF0 rating, with maximum estimated wind speeds of 80 mph, was based on several uprooted or snapped hardwood trees and minor shearing of tree tops on a few standing trees. No major structural damage was observed, aside from the building on Himes Street, which was caused by a downed tree.

Wider weather episode

A fast-moving cold front combined with a potent short-wave trough lifting northeastward across western and northern New England to produce severe thunderstorms across southern New England. Despite dewpoint temperatures only in the 30s and 40s, the cold pool aloft created instability and there was very strong low-level helicity. The result was an unprecedented outbreak of tornadoes across Long Island, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.5656, -71.4811)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 989719. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.