Springfield, Massachusetts (MA) tornado gets Fujita rating EF-3, should be no surprise, state has history of violent tornadoes (Video, Pictures, Map, KMZ)

June 2, 2011June 20, 2011 Sorin Adam Matei 0 Comments Massachusetts, Meteorology, National Weather Service, Springfield Massachusetts, Tornado, united states, West Springfield Massachusetts

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sprinfieldtornadopathpicturemanson — Monson Area of the Springfield, MA 2011 tornado

The unexpected tornadoes that landed in Springfield, Massachusetts on June 1, 2011, one of which sucked water from a local river and was declared an EF-3 (on a scale of 5), took the public and the media by surprise. Yet, the stereotype that only Oklahoma or Kansas are regularly affected by tornadoes is just a myth. Massachusetts, as many other north eastern states, has known several violent and destructive tornadoes in the last 60 years. The 1953 Worcester tornado was one of the most

1953 Worcester tornado. Assumtion College damage. via Wikipedia

destructive in the nation, killing many people and wounding thousands. Assumption College was completely devastated. As indicated by the table below, Worcester is next to many southern and western cities in terms of historical tornado impact. The table (UPDATED) lists the counties most affected by tornadoes in the last 6 decades (the impact column multiplies average tornado intensity, number of casualties and area of destruction). The data for the table was provided by the National Atlas and the methodology is explained in a previous post.

1950-2008 TORNADO IMPACT AT COUNTY LEVEL (US)
STATE	COUNTY	TORNADO COUNT	CASUALTIES	HISTORIC IMPACT
TX	Archer	27	1888	100.0
OK	Kay	81	695	86.1
MA	Worcester	33	1362	85.7
OH	Greene	14	1306	84.9
KS	Labette	31	534	83.9
NY	Genesee	36	1090	81.2
OK	Grady	53	653	77.5
IN	Clinton	13	865	76.6
MS	Copiah	32	187	76.5
SC	Marlboro	13	508	76.5
IN	Steuben	9	342	76.0
AK	Woodruff	24	546	75.8
MS	Jones	49	456	75.5
MS	Issaquena	6	855	74.1
PE	Clearfield	6	0	73.8
GE	Bartow	14	112	73.2
NE	Webster	31	8	73.0
AL	Jefferson	70	605	72.9
IN	Benton	15	306	72.9
LO	Franklin	22	568	72.2

Springfield, Massachusetts Tornado Path Map

Help us improve the path by editing this map http://matei.org/url/16g. Click edit and drag the path until it matches what you know to be the real path. (You might need to log in with a Google or Gmail account.)

Springfield MA tornado path. Click on the image for interactive Google Maps/Earth View. Click Earth button for 3d View.

US Historical Tornado Map: Counties most impacted by tornadoes (1950-2008)

The map below sets the Massachusetts tornadoes in perspective. It depicts in shades of color how much was each county in each US state was impacted by tornadoes over the past 60 years. The numbers reflect three intensity factors (casualties, tornado intensity, and area of destruction) multiplied by the number of tornadoes that afflicted each county. (0 represents no impact and the higher the negative number, the lower the impact.).

As can be seen, Massachusets had its fair share of tornadoes. In fact, several counties in the north east, including upstate New York have seen intense tornadoes in the last sixty years. Zoom in to view more details and match the color with the legend to the left. The most impacted area of the United States remain, however, the south-central region of the country.

You can also see the map of overtime tornado impact in 3d. Click “Earth” button in upper right corner of map.

Alternately, you can view a clickable version of the map, which provides county level data (impact factor, number of tornadoes and casualties). http://matei.org/url/146

The map of tornado overtime impact also reveals that the most affected areas are more likely to be in the Midwest and South than in the proverbial Kansas/Oklahoma tornado alley. 10 of the 20 most affected counties are in Southern states. Impact is a calculated score, as discussed above (Scale x fatality x area x number of tornadoes). “Destruction” = average square miles destroyed by tornadoes. Deaths, injuries, and scale reflect 60 year averages. Count represents how many tornadoes hit the county in the last sixty years. According to the the National Atlas data, Jefferson County, Alabama was visited by 70 tornadoes and Jones County, Mississippi was hit by tornadoes 49 times in sixty years.