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- News and Weather for Western Massachusetts
Somers "Landspout" Tornado - May 28th, 2007
By
Brandon Butcher
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...A WEAK TYPE OF TORNADO KNOWN COLLOQUIALLY AS A LANDSPOUT TOUCHED
DOWN IN SOMERS CONNECTICUT THIS AFTERNOON...
AT APPROXIMATELY 1 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON...A LANDSPOUT OCCURRED OVER
SOMERS CONNECTICUT...CAUSING DAMAGE TO A LARGE COMMERCIAL BARN.
THIS OCCURRED AT THE INTERSECTION OF HALL HILL ROAD AND BRACE ROAD.
NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED.
A VOLUNTEER AMATEUR RADIO COORDINATOR FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE/S SKYWARN PROGRAM...WITH MANY YEARS EXPERIENCE AT DAMAGE
ASSESSMENT...WAS ABLE TO DETAIL THE DAMAGE FOR US. BASED ON HIS
DESCRIPTION AND PHOTOS SENT TO US...AS WELL AS VIDEO IMAGERY FROM A
LOCAL TELEVISION STATION...THIS WILL BE CALLED AN EF0 ON THE NEW
ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. WIND SPEEDS WERE APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH. THE
PATH LENGTH WAS 650 FEET AND PATH WIDTH WAS 60 FEET. WIND SPEEDS IN
THE EF0 SCALE RANGE FROM 65 TO 85 MPH. DURATION WAS A MINUTE OR
LESS. TECHINCALLY IT IS CALLED A TORNADO BECAUSE IT IS A ROTATING
COLUMN OF AIR THAT IS IN CONTACT WITH BOTH THE GROUND AND A
CUMULIFORM CONVECTIVE CLOUD.
THE MIDDLE PORTION OF THE ROOF OF THE BARN WAS LIFTED UPWARD
ACCORDING TO EYEWITNESSES...THEN PEELED OFF. ACCORDING TO A
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER AT THE SCENE...THE METAL BRACES ATTACHED TO THE
ROOF ARE RATED AT BEING ABLE TO WITHSTAND 95 MPH WINDS...BUT THEY
REMAINED WELL INTACT. DEBRIS COMPRISED MAINLY OF PIECES OF THE TIN
ROOF AND FOAMY INSULATION FROM INSIDE THE BUILDING WAS LIFTED UP AND
CARRIED DOWNWIND IN A RELATIVELY NARROW PATH. A FEW WOODEN HURDLES
ALONG A HORSE EXERCISING TRACK WERE TIPPED OVER IN A CONVERGING
PATTERN. MOST IMPORTANTLY...THERE WERE FOUR EYEWITNESSES AT THE
SCENE WHO SAW DIRT SWIRLING UPWARD INTO THE AIR. THAT IS WHEN THE
FUNNEL BECAME VISIBLE TO THEM.
LANDSPOUTS FORM DURING THE GROWTH STAGE OF CONVECTIVE CLOUDS AND
OCCUR IN RELATIVELY DRIER ATMOSPHERES. TODAY...A LINE OF CUMULUS
CLOUDS ALONG A COLD FRONT WAS VISIBLE ON SATELLITE IMAGERY AT THE
TIME...BUT THAT WAS THE ONLY MARKER FOR THIS EVENT. THERE WAS NO
PRECIPITATION ON RADAR AT THE TIME. IN ORDER FOR A LANDSPOUT TO
FORM...THERE HAS TO BE JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ROTATION IN THE
BOUNDARY LAYER JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE...THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF
LOW-LEVEL INSTABILITY...AND ADDED CONVERGENCE SUCH AS WHAT THE COLD
FRONT PROVIDED. NOT ALL LANDSPOUTS ARE VISIBLE...AND MANY ARE
SIGHTED AS DEBRIS SWIRLING AT THE SURFACE BEFORE EVENTUALLY FILLING
IN WITH DEBRIS.
A VERY SIMILAR EVENT TO THIS OCCURRED ON AUGUST 16 2000 IN ELLINGTON
CONNECTICUT. A F1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AND ACTUALLY LIFTED UP SMALL
HORSE TRAILERS AND DRAGGED THEM IN CIRCULAR PATHS.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THANKS OUR AMATEUR RADIO PARTNER AS
WELL AS THOSE AT THE SCENE WHO SPOKE WITH HIM.
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