First Tornado In Mass. In February Touches Down Over Weekend

MASSACHUSETTS — While it was short, it touched down "with a vengeance." The tornado that hit Massachusetts over the weekend was the first to hit in the Bay State in February, at least since official tornado records have been kept, which date back to 1950.

Officials confirmed that a tornado touched down in Conway and Goshen, MA, over the weekend, ripping a path of about five miles at 200 yards wide and 110 mph. The tornado caused one injury.

"We concluded that there was a very brief tornado touchdown in a small portion of Goshen, MA," reports the National Weather Service. "It then lifted for several miles before touching down and cutting a 5-mile path through the town of Conway, MA, where high-end EF1 tornado damage occurred."

The tornado touched down around 7:18 p.m. in Goshen, and then struck Conway from approximately 7:20 p.m. to 7:25 p.m. Wind gusts were estimated at 80 to 100 mph in the damaged areas, but two sections of Conway had wind gusts as high as 110, which centered on Main Poland Road and Whately Road.

In Goshen, several pine trees were snapped mid-way and two homes were damaged by trees falling onto them on Pine Road, just to the east of Hammond Pond, said National Weather Service.

In Conway, the tornado touched down "with a vengeance" on Main Poland Road in the western part of Conway. Large sections of forest had thick pine trees that were snapped mid-way up and some closer to their bases. Numerous power lines were downed and there were numerous road closures. From there, there was a continuous path into downtown Conway, said NWS.

In the area just to the southeast of the town hall, there were several houses that were severely damaged on Whately Road. Roofs were blown off, with some metal wrapped around middle and upper portions of trees. In one case, a the side walls of a house were missing with the interior of the house exposed. On Hill View Road there was a large barn that was collapsed. Numerous trees and power lines were down. One injury occurred when a tree landed on a house just northeast of there, on South Deerfield Road (Route 116).

"Several people that we spoke to heard a tell-tale roaring sound and immediately sought shelter in their basements," said NWS in its statement. "It was very fortunate that nobody was killed in this event. This was a highly unusual occurrence. In fact, there has never been a tornado during the month of February since official tornado statistics have been kept, dating back to 1950."

Photo via National Weather Service