A damage survey conducted by a trained SkyWarn amateur radio coordinator and an eyewitness account by the Sunderland Police Chief indicate that a small and weak tornado occurred in Sunderland around 705 PE EDT Saturday May 9.The most notable damage was a tobacco barn that was blown onto route 47 or river street.There was also some tree damage
in the area.

Originally, this storm was thought to have been a 'gustnado', which forms in as a swirling eddy in the fast straight-line winds of a gust front, which often occurs in a well-developed thunderstorm. Think of it as an extreme version of a swirl of leaves. It is NOT the same as a tornado, often weaker, but can leave a similar damage pattern on the ground.

The damage survey revealed converging damage based upon the orientation of downed trees and disturbed vegetation. After hearing the initial wind and rain from the storm...The Police Chief observed the funnel cloud reach the surface. Since National Weather Service radar imagery did not reveal any rotation in the low to mid portions of the storm...The vertical extent of this weak tornado was likely rather shallow. It is possible to have a shallow tornado not perceived by the doppler radar at the National Weather Service, because any sensing beam has to be angled to clear the Worcester Hills, and such a beam may end up shooting over-top of a very shallow rotation column. But such a situation likely would only occur with very weak tornadoes.

Maximum wind gusts were estimated to be 60 to 70 MPH (which is in line with the speed of straight-line winds contained within the same complex of storms). This tornado will be classified as an EF-0 on the enhanced Fujita scale. The track was estimated to be one half to three quarters of a mile long and a width that varied from 100 to 400 feet wide.