The National Weather Service forecast office in Taunton, MA confirmed that a tornado touched down in central Connecticut on Monday, July 1, 2013 at 1:28 pm. A preliminary report compiled after a damage survey estimates the maximum wind speed at 90 mph, a width of 200 yards, and a path length of 2.25 miles. 90 mph winds are at the low end of the EF1 category on the Enhanced-Fujita scale.
There was only one minor injury reported when a tractor trailer in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart was knocked over injuring the driver. The storm also downed trees and power lines, overturned a truck on I-91 and blew some roofs (learn what to consider when replacing or repairing a roof). The storm heavily damaged an indoor sports facility in East Windsor. Netting from tobacco fields in the path of the storm was picked up and carried up to two miles away. More news coverage from courant.com.
Another rotating storm near CT/MA border. In Windsor Locks and moving NE. No severe warning yet. #CTwx #MAwx pic.twitter.com/R5vAAdvLke
— Right Weather (@RightWeather) July 1, 2013
NOUS41 KBOX 020000 PNSBOX CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001>008-020400- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 800 PM EDT MON JUL 1 2013 ...TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR WINDSOR IN HARTFORD COUNTY CONNECTICUT... LOCATION...WINDSOR IN HARTFORD COUNTY CONNECTICUT DATE...JULY 1 2013 ESTIMATED TIME...128 PM EDT MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1 ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...90 MPH MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...200 YARDS PATH LENGTH...2.25 MILES BEGINNING LAT/LON...41.90N / 72.65W ENDING LAT/LON...41.92N / 72.62W * FATALITIES...0 * INJURIES...0 * THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA. ...SUMMARY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON MA HAS CONFIRMED A TORNADO NEAR WINDSOR IN HARTFORD COUNTY CONNECTICUT ON JULY 1 2013. THIS DAMAGE SURVEY HAS BEEN COMPLETED AS OF THE TIME OF THIS STATEMENT. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT A TORNADO DID OCCUR IN HARTFORD COUNTY CONNECTICUT...BEGINNING ON HAYDEN STATION ROAD IN WINDSOR AND CONTINUING THROUGH PORTIONS OF WINDSOR LOCKS CONNECTICUT AND ACROSS THE CONNECTICUT RIVER...ENDING IN THE 200 BLOCK OF MAIN STREET IN EAST WINDSOR CONNECTICUT. THE ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A WAREHOUSE ON HAYDEN STATION ROAD IN WINDSOR. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED NEAR RAYMOND ROAD AND ALICIA TERRACE INCLUDING SOME THAT WERE DOWNED ONTO CARS AND HOUSES. SHINGLES WERE ALSO BLOWN OFF HOUSES ON PRESTON ROAD AND GAYLORD ROAD. AS THE TORNADO TRAVELED NORTHEASTWARD...TOBACCO TENTS WERE RIPPED OFF THE TOBACCO FIELDS AND SOME TOBACCO WAS FLATTENED. THIS CAN BE SEEN FROM INTERSTATE 91. SEVERAL EYEWITNESSES REPORTED DEBRIS BEING LOFTED INTO THE AIR AND NOISE THAT SOUNDED LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN AS THE TORNADO MOVED THROUGH. WHILE MUCH OF THE DAMAGE WAS RATED EF-0...THERE WERE SEVERAL SMALL AREAS OF EF-1 DAMAGE WHERE A SPORTS BUBBLE AT SPORTS WORLD IN EAST WINDSOR CONNECTICUT COLLAPSED AND BLEW ONTO INTERSTATE 91. ADDITIONALLY...REPORTS WERE RECEIVED OF A SEMI TRUCK THAT WAS BLOWN OVER ON INTERSTATE 91 SOUTH AT EXIT 44 IN EAST WINDSOR. THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/BOX. FOR REFERENCE...THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH. EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH. EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH. EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH. EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH. EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.