Hello to all...

The following are reports from Wednesday's severe weather event.

An unusual event occurred in Ellington, CT. Without a real thunderstorm
with heavy rain, wind damage or hail in the area, moisture converging in
the area caused a tornado to spin up over a 1.5 mile path in Ellington.
Pictures will be available on the Western Mass. SKYWARN site in the next
day or two.

In Foster, RI, there may also have been a tornado but this is unconfirmed.
It appears that it effected one house with three trees down. Several large
braches were blown down within a couple 100 feet of the area per Ralph
Nahigan, KE1GL who investigated the area with Foster RI PD. Tomorrow, Doug
Young will investigate the damage area along with Foster PD and Ralph KE1GL.

The reported damage is listed below:

WWUS30 KBOS 170018
LSRBOS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
815 PM EDT WED AUG 16 2000

TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS... ....COUNTY LOCATION....

01:40 PM ELLINGTON CT TORNADO
08/16/00 TOLLAND NWS HAS CONFIRMED THAT A TORNADO DID OCCUR. IT WAS 40 YARDS WIDE WITH A PATH LENGTH OF APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILES AND A FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE RATING OF F1. MANY TRAILERS WERE LIFTED UP AND BLOWN AROUND AND A COW BARN WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGED. FOR MORE INFORMATION...PLEASE REFER TO PUBLIC INFORMATION
STATEMENT...BOSPNSBOS.

03:35 PM FOSTER RI WIND DAMAGE
08/16/00 PROVIDENCE POSSIBLE TORNADO.

PUBLIC REPORTED BLACK SWIRLING CLOUD WHICH KNOCKED DOWN TWO PINE TREES AND AN APPLE TREE IN BACKYARD. 2 FT PIECE OF PINE DRIVEN INTO THE GROUND. DAMAGE ON EAST KILLINGLY ROAD IN NORTH FOSTER. TIME IS APPROXIMATE BASED ON RADAR.

$$
FIELD

ABUS34 KBOS 170014 AMD
PNSBOS
CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-RIZ001>007-NHZ011>012-171800-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...UPDATED INFORMATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
812 PM EDT WED AUG 16 2000

F1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN ELLINGTON CONNECTICUT THIS AFTERNOON.

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEY HAS CONFIRMED THAT A SMALL TORNADO OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 140 PM THIS AFTERNOON IN ELLINGTON CONNECTICUT...IN NORTHWEST TOLLAND COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS CLASSIFIED AS A F1 RATING ON THE FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE...WHICH REPRESENTS APPROXIMATE WIND SPEEDS FROM 73 TO 112 MPH. THE DAMAGE
PATH WAS 40 YARDS WIDE AND APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILES LONG. THE TORNADO TRAVELED FROM THE WEST-NORTHWEST TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST.

THIS WAS QUITE UNUSUAL BECAUSE THE TORNADO SPUN UP IN THE LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IMMEDIATELY ALONG A COLD FRONT WHICH WAS PASSING THROUGH THE AREA. IT WAS CONFINED TO THE LOWEST ELEVATIONS OF THE DEVELOPING STORM. SOMETIMES THE LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IS MAXIMIZED DURING THIS DEVELOPMENT PHASE. IT DID NOT FORM FROM THE CLASSIC TYPE OF TORNADO SITUATION...WHERE A SEVERE STORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS CREATES A TORNADO WHICH WORKS ITS WAY DOWN TO THE
GROUND FROM HIGHER UP IN THE STORM.

THERE WERE SEVERAL EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF A ROTATING BROWNISH-BLACK FUNNEL CLOUD WHICH CONTAINED DEBRIS...SUCH AS LARGE BRANCHES. THE TORNADO
THEN STRUCK A TRAILER STORE ALONG ROUTE 83 IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OF ELLINGTON. A TOTAL OF 27 TRAILERS WERE BLOWN AROUND AND WERE LYING IN MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. ONE TRAILER...WHICH WAS 6 FT. BY 12 FT. LONG...EMPTY...AND WEIGHING 1,380 POUNDS WAS LIFTED UPWARD TO A HEIGHT OF 35 FT AND CARRIED A DISTANCE OF 60 YARDS. IT TRAVELED IN A CIRCULAR PATH. BRANCHES WERE SEEN ROTATING AT ABOUT 100 FT UP IN THE SKY. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF A ROTATIONAL CONVERGENT PATTERN IN
THE TALL GRASS. THERE WAS A SHARP GRADIENT OF DAMAGE VERSUS NO DAMAGE...ALSO INDICATIVE OF A TORNADO. BASED ON THE WEIGHT OF THE TRAILER DESCRIBED ABOVE...THE STORM WAS CLASSIFIED AS F1 ON THE FUJITA SCALE.

A COW BARN...WHICH HAS BEEN DESCRIBED MORE LIKE A GREENHOUSE...HAD A GALVANIZED STEEL FRAME WHICH CAVED INWARD. THE PLASTIC COVERING WAS RIPPED OFF. THERE WERE A FEW TREES UPROOTED BEHIND A RESIDENTIAL HOUSE.

FORTUNATELY...THERE WERE NO INJURIES TO PEOPLE...OR COWS. THERE WAS ONLY MINIMAL DAMAGE TO A HOME...WITH A FEW SHINGLES MISSING.

$$
FIELD/DUNHAM/YOUNG

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
SEMCARES Emergency Coordinator