A couple tornadoes have touched down in Springfield and (I think) Monson. I’ve heard rumors about Sturbridge, Southbridge, and Westfield also. I have spent most of the last 3 hours sitting in my basement with my 3 psychotic dogs. I’m back upstairs now though because we’re finally back on watch status, although it has been extended to 11 PM.
There has so far been 1 confirmed death due to a tornado.
My dog trainer lost a tree to a microburst. There’s been a report (unconfirmed) that a tornado touched down on the highway fairly close to my house (for a tornado, about 5 miles by car). We’ve actually had very little rain in my town but a huge amount of thunder, none of which seems very close.
I’ve been glued to the weather channel all afternoon–there was this image of a HUGE uprooted tree that caught my attention. Here in the DC metro area, we’re under a severe weather alert–I hope we don’t get any tornadoes. Good luck, Massachusettians.
Whoa, Massachusetts? And multiple tornadoes? I wouldn’t even have thought it’d be possible to get tornadoes there. Or at least, so hugely unlikely as to be next to impossible.
Well, it’s certainly not common. We had a huge one in Worcester a few decades before I was born that people still talk about. Other than that, you hear the occasional report of a tiny funnel cloud that doesn’t touch down or that doesn’t do any damage.
This is definitely odd and not at all how I planned to spend my day.
Second round coming through here. It was distant, but apparently it’s getting closer instead of just passing by off to the side. Reports of hail. I had some plans tonight that fell through and I am so glad that I’m not trying to drive in this.
Live press conference right now (914pm) with Deval
The sky was a sickly yellow-green here in seacoastal York county in Maine for a while, a bit of wind and some mammatus clouds in the sky, it looks like we’re in the gap between the two supercell storms in the region
Pretty scary actually, lived here in New England all my life and don’t ever remember having tornado warnings/watches growing up, only in the last few years have we had this strange weather
I remember tornado watches frequently during my life in MA and even the occasional warning. The only one that amounted to anything was when I lived in Plattsburgh NY.
I’m glad you’re OK. It was pretty freaky watching the storm pass through the state so fast. By the time it got to me, it had calmed down to one big rousing thunderstorm.
I remember a tornado watch a few years ago, but in my 31 years here, I don’t think that one has actually manifested.
Yes, that was a lot of fun. My niece was at work in Southbridge. We were under two separate warnings up in North Central Ma, the second being the worst. We were in the basement for that one. Thankfully nothing fully developed here, but there’s a lot of damage elsewhere. This is very atypical for Mass. Have lived here all of my 52 years and this is highly unusual to get that many actual touchdowns and ones that stayed on the ground. Hope this isn’t a new trend.
I can deal with the snow and ice, but I don’t like thunder/lightning storms as it is, and when they come with tornado warnings, I’m even less thrilled.
I love thunder and lightening but I can live without the tornadoes. Hope your niece is ok. I haven’t checked the local news yet but it looks like my part of Southbridge is unscathed. I have a lot of friends without power and one friend in Springfield was worried about his fish dying over night without power. Our family in Chicopee and Agawam are good although my boyfriend’s dad casually mentioned that something from the back yard somehow ended up in the front yard. I think the worst damage to hit someone close to me was the tree my trainer lost.
We did end up with a huge thunderstorm that passed (it seems) right over my house but it seems like all the lightening was cloud to cloud. I never even saw a bolt. My boyfriend saw lightening hit a tree just as he was getting off 146 and on the Pike last night.
Two of my dogs spent most of the night pissed at me because I (twice) forced them into the basement. They don’t mind the basement itself but they’re both petrified of the stairs. They finally forgave me around midnight.
Apparently at some point the town siren went off but I was in my basement with 2 floors of logs over my head so I didn’t hear a thing. It was very helpful to have my mom calling me with updates from my step-dad’s weather radio. All the news reports were about what had happened in Springfield and what was heading east of Worcester but no one seemed to care about what was still going on in Southbridge/Sturbridge area so it was a bitch trying to find current news. Luckily I never lost my phone and my mom didn’t either (in Worcester). So, while I was watching the news and they were saying Southbridge was in the clear, my mom was calling me telling me to get BACK IN THE BASEMENT NOW!!!
My boyfriend just called me (he’s on his way to work). He says, “You know that Day’s Inn that you can see from 84? Well, there’s quite a bit missing.” We knew that one touched down near 84 but we didn’t know where. Well, apparently it touched down next to our exit. A lot of traffic is being diverted through my part of Southbridge because we’re next to that part of Sturbridge. I want to go look but I’m sure they’re already being bothered by spectators so I’ll stay home. I’m sure I’ll get to see the damage soon. I was going to go to the post office and bead store today but since that requires passing through the worst hit area of Sturbridge, I think I’ll just stay home and do some Chemistry homework.
I have to say though, today is absolutely glorious. The sky is blue without a cloud in sight. The temperature is comfortable and there’s a wind that would be annoying if I were outside. But, since I’m in my house with the windows open, it’s just making me happy.
I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again. I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again.I will never complain about my mother being an alarmist about weather reports again.
The tornadoes didn’t make it to the Coast in Massachusetts. We were watching for them, but didn’t even get strong winds here. The TV news were showing the radar charts and giving timexs of arrivals of up to 44 different storms, but nothing came of it. The sky looked weird, with a golden glow at sunset to the west that I have rarely seen. Our cats were looking apprehensively out the windows to the west.
According to the news, six tornadoes touched down, including one in Sturbridge (good to see you’re OK, congo – I used to work in Southbridge). There are four reported deaths in Western Mass due to the storm.
No ill effects here. As a result of the front, our weather changed from sultry, hot, and sticky to clear and much cooler, with a definite wind now.
http://telegram.com/ This is the main page of the Telegram and Gazette out of Worcester. There’s a slideshow of pics from Southbridge, Sturbridge, Brimfield, Monson, and Charlton. I didn’t realize until looking through these that there actually was damage in Southbridge. I thought the town had a narrow escape.
I forgot to mention: Before I went to bed last night, I heard that Sturbridge Village’s buildings sustained no damage. However, they are closed today due to no power. I told my boyfriend this. He started laughing and asked why a lack of power would matter to them (OSV is set in the 1830’s). I had to remind him that cash registers and the restaurant need electricity. I wonder if they’re going to be open on Saturday for the antique car show. We were really looking forward to that.
I fielded a call from a business my company insures today. It was very early in the day, before I was caffeinated, and I hadn’t heard about the Massnadoes yet. She said they’d had a tornado and had to file a business interruption claim. I said, wow that sucks, where at? I haven’t heard about any tornadoes that happened yesterday. And she said Massachusetts. My face went what?? A Massnado? Unheard of.
The man who died in West Springfield was 23 so I’m assuming it wasn’t your father.
I’ve recently found out that the Southbridge Municipal Airport was trashed. The hanger is demolished and planes were flipped over.
A friend who lives on the other side of town said he never got any rain but there was some damage in his area, though not to his house. His area has had helicopters and emergency vehicles passing by all day. My neighborhood got craploads of rain but no damage and is eerily quiet today. By air, we’re about a mile apart. It never ceases to amaze me how localized severe weather is.
Three of my four routes out of town took heavy damage.
what?? A Massnado? Unheard of.