**UPDATED** New, detailed bulletin and radar loop at the bottom of this page!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to get this information out to keep you updated on those strong storms that rolled across Connecticut Friday.

The National Weather Service has reviewed radar data and the actual storm damage around Farmington and Wethersfield. They have confirmed the touchdown of an EF1 tornado Friday, June 26th 2009 in Wethersfield. They typically review the pattern of damage to determine if it is from a tornado or straight line winds (microburst). The damage in Farmington, West Hartford and points Southeast through Northern New London County are straight line winds.

Tornadoes are NOT unusual in Connecticut.

On average, Litchfield County has the highest number of touchdowns and New London County the lowest. -Gil

Here is the official bulletin from the National Weather Service:

000
NOUS41 KBOX 281933
PNSBOX
CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001>007-300000-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
332 PM EDT SUN JUN 28 2009

...EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN WETHERSFIELD CT ON FRIDAY JUNE 26...

LOCATION... WETHERSFIELD...HARTFORD COUNTY...CONNECTICUT
DATE... FRIDAY JUNE 26 2009
TIME... 450-453 PM
MAXIMUM EF SCALE RATING... EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED... 100 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH... APPROXIMATELY 40 YARDS
PATH LENGTH... APPROXIMATELY 1.7 MILES
*FATALITIES... NONE
*INJURIES... 1

*NOTE THESE NUMBERS COULD CHANGE AFTER ISSUANCE OF THIS PRODUCT.

...SUMMARY...

LATE IN THE AFTERNOON ON JUNE 26...A POWERFUL SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
MOVED EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN HARTFORD COUNTY...DOWNING
TREES AND POWERLINES ACROSS MANY TOWNS...INCLUDING BURLINGTON...
FARMINGTON...PLAINVILLE...WEST HARTFORD...SOUTHINGTON...BRISTOL...
NEW BRITAIN...NEWINGTON...WETHERSFIELD...GLASTONBURY...AND
MARLBOROUGH. HARDEST HIT WERE THE TOWNS OF WETHERSFIELD AND
FARMINGTON.

ON SATURDAY JUNE 27...TWO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (NWS) TEAMS
INVESTIGATED THE DAMAGE. THE FIRST SURVEY TEAM WAS FROM THE NWS IN
TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS WHICH LOOKED AT DAMAGE IN THOSE TWO TOWNS AND
SPOKE WITH EYEWITNESSES. THEY WERE ACCOMPANIED BY STATE EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS...AND AN AMATEUR RADIO
COORDINATOR FROM WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. THE SECOND TEAM WAS FROM THE
NWS IN UPTON NEW YORK. AIDED BY THE CIVIL AIR PATROL...THEY
PERFORMED AN AERIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE DAMAGE FROM AS FAR WEST AS
TORRINGTON TO AS FAR EAST AS COLCHESTER. THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY
OF THESE INVESTIGATIONS.

SEVERAL POCKETS OF STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE WERE NOTED THROUGHOUT
THE AFOREMENTIONED TOWNS. IN FARMINGTON...THE STORM HIT GENERALLY
AROUND 420 PM. ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS OF 50-60 MPH KNOCKED DOWN TREES
IN THE VALLEY VIEW DRIVE AND CEDAR RIDGE DRIVE AREAS...JUST TO THE
EAST OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HEALTH CENTER. THE DAMAGE WAS
RANDOM AND MANY OF THE AFFECTED TREES HAD SHALLOW ROOTS WITH HOLLOW
CENTERS. FARTHER TO THE NORTHWEST...IN THE UNIONVILLE SECTION OF
FARMINGTON...15 TO 20 TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN ON PERRY STREET NEAR
THE FARMINGTON RIVER. THESE WERE HEALTHIER TREES. A DIVERGENT
PATTERN WAS SEEN IN THE DAMAGE WHICH AGAIN INDICATED STRAIGHT LINE
WINDS...OR A SMALL MICROBURST. WIND SPEEDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 60 TO
70 MPH AT THAT LOCATION. THROUGHOUT THE TOWN...ALL TREES WERE BLOWN
DOWN FROM THE WEST-NORTHWEST TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST. INTERESTINGLY...
19 HOURS AFTER THE EVENT...A SOLID PATCH OF HAIL STILL REMAINED ON
THE FRONT LAWN AT A HOME ON PERRY STREET.

IN WETHERSFIELD...DAMAGE WAS MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT. NUMEROUS TREES
WERE KNOCKED DOWN...SOME DRIVEN COMPLETELY THROUGH HOMES MAKING THEM
UNINHABITABLE. STREET LIGHTS WERE STILL OUT. LARGE HEALTHY OAK TREES
WERE SLICED IN HALF...SOME NEAR THEIR BASES... AND OTHERS WERE
UPROOTED WITH ROOTS EXPOSED. ALTHOUGH MANY TREES WERE SEEN BLOWN
DOWN FROM THE WEST-NORTHWEST TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST...THE GROUND
SURVEY WAS ABLE TO DISCERN A DEFINITIVE TORNADO TRACK EMBEDDED
WITHIN THIS GENERAL STRAIGHT-LINE DAMAGE.

ON WOLCOTT HILL ROAD NEAR ROBBINS DRIVE...TREES WERE FALLEN FACING
DUE SOUTH. FARTHER TO THE SOUTHEAST...IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF OLD
WETHERSFIELD... A VERY INTERESTING PATTERN WAS FOUND IN THE TREE
DAMAGE. ON BROAD STREET AT THE GREEN...TREES AT RAYNOR LANE WERE
POINTING TO THE NORTHEAST WHILE ONLY A BLOCK OR TWO NORTH ON ELM
STREET...TREES WERE POINTING TO THE SOUTHEAST...INDICATING
CONVERGENCE TOWARD A VERY NARROW TRACK. FOLLOWING ELM STREET
SOUTHEASTWARD BETWEEN MAPLE STREET AND INTERSTATE 91...THERE WAS A
CORN FIELD. THE FLATTENED CORN STALKS WERE IN A CRISS-CROSS PATTERN
AND ABOUT 100 FEET INTO THE CORN FIELD...THERE WERE TALL STALKS THAT
WERE SEEMINGLY NOT IMPACTED AT ALL BY THE WINDS. THIS SHARP
DELINEATION IS INDICATIVE OF TORNADIC WINDS. FARTHER TO THE
NORTHWEST...ALONG THIS SAME NARROW PATH...SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE
OCCURRED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PARK AVENUE AND NOTT STREET.

ANOTHER INDICATOR OF A TORNADO WAS A MEDIA REPORT OF A STORE ON
SILAS DEANE HIGHWAY DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE TOWN HALL WHICH HAD ITS
LARGE WINDOWS SUCKED OUTWARD...WITH A KAYAK FROM INSIDE THE STORE
BEING DEPOSITED ON THE ROAD IN FRONT OF THE STORE.

SO...THE TRACK STARTED NEAR NOTT STREET AND PARK AVENUE AND
CONTINUED SOUTHEASTWARD FOR APPROXIMATELY 1.7 MILES PASSING JUST
SOUTH OF THE TOWN HALL AND ACROSS THE GREEN BETWEEN RAYNOR LANE AND
ELM STREET AND ENDING JUST AFTER THE CORN FIELD BEFORE INTERSTATE
I-91. CALLS BEGAN BEING RECEIVED AT THE 9-1-1 CALL CENTER AT 450 PM.
WITH THE STORM TRAVELING AT 25 TO 30 MPH...THE TORNADO IS ESTIMATED
TO HAVE LASTED FOR ABOUT 3 MINUTES IN WETHERSFIELD. STRAIGHT LINE
WIND DAMAGE OCCURRED BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THIS...DUE TO THE
STRENGTH OF THE LARGER PARENT THUNDERSTORM CELL.

INDEPENDENTLY...THE GROUND SURVEY TEAM AND THE AERIAL SURVEY
TEAM ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF 80 TO 90 MPH WITH SOME GUSTS PROBABLY
AROUND 100 MPH. THE DAMAGE INDICATORS SEEN WERE CONSISTENT WITH AN
ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE RANKING OF EF1. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT
BOTH TEAMS FOUND THAT THERE WAS LITTLE EVIDENCE IN THE WAY OF
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO HOMES OR BUSINESSES...EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHICH
WERE HIT DIRECTLY BY FALLING TREES.

EYEWITNESSES REPORTED A LOUD ROARING NOISE BUT DID NOT OBSERVE THE
TORNADO...WHICH WAS LIKELY OBSCURED BY HEAVY RAIN AND LARGE HAIL.
QUARTER TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL WAS COMMON IN WETHERSFIELD.

APPROXIMATELY ONE-QUARTER MILE TO THE NORTH OF THE TRACK...A HOME
WAS SLICED IN HALF BY A LARGE OAK TREE WHILE TWO RESIDENTS WERE
INSIDE. AMAZINGLY...THEY ESCAPED WITHOUT INJURY. ON JUNE 27...THE
DAY AFTER THE EVENT...A TREE LIMB THAT HAD BEEN BROKEN OFF DURING
THE STORM BUT WHICH HAD REMAINED HIGH UP IN THE TREE FELL DOWN AND
STRUCK A MAN. THIS WAS THE ONLY REPORTED INJURY.

WHILE IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS NARROW TORNADO MAY HAVE AFFECTED
OTHER AREAS TO THE SOUTHEAST OF WETHERSFIELD...IT COULD NOT BE
CONFIRMED BY THE AERIAL SURVEY TEAM. AGAIN...MOST OF WHAT THEY COULD
SEE FROM THE AIR WAS STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE SCATTERED ACROSS THE
ENTIRE ROUTE...FROM LITCHFIELD COUNTY...THROUGH THE SOUTHERN HALF OF
HARTFORD COUNTY....AND INTO EXTREME NORTHERN NEW LONDON COUNTY.

ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...WE WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS
OUR SINCERE APPRECIATION TO ALL PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH THIS SURVEY
PROCESS. IN PARTICULAR...THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AND HOMELAND SECURITY...THE CIVIL AIR PATROL...FARMINGTON
AND WETHERSFIELD POLICE CHIEFS...WETHERSFIELD TOWN MANAGER...AND THE
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS AMATEUR RADIO COORDINATOR. ALSO...A SPECIAL
THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO WERE DIRECTLY IMPACTED BY THIS EVENT YET
TOOK THE TIME TO SPEAK WITH US.

$$
FIELD