Tornadoes and Hail in Massachusetts, October 3, 1970

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Massachusetts, October 3, 1970
Start: 1970-10-03T16:00
End: 1970-10-03T16:45
Location: Massachusetts

October 3, 1970 · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

3 tornado, 2 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

3 tornado, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Hampden

When: October 3, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Hampden County
Rating: F1
Path width: 17 yd
Coordinates: 42.070, -72.600

Hail, Hampshire

When: October 3, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Hampshire County
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Coordinates: 42.380, -72.500

Hail, Worcester

When: October 3, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Worcester County
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Coordinates: 42.280, -71.900

Tornado, Worcester

When: October 3, 4:15 PM CST
Where: Worcester County
Rating: F3
Path length: 35.4 mi
Path width: 60 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 42.330, -72.170

Tornado, Middlesex

When: October 3, 4:45 PM CST
Where: Middlesex County
Rating: F3
Path width: 60 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 42.550, -71.530

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Middlesex	1970-10-03				Direct

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Massachusetts in 1970 Every state in 1970 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Massachusetts, 1970

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10040162, 10040163, 10040164, 10040165, 10040166.