Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, July 15, 1995

A fast moving sqaull line of severe thunderstorms caused numerous reports of damaging winds in the western two-thirds of Massachusetts and more scattered reports of damage farther east. The storms were part of a major mesoscale convective complex (derecho) which had tracked across the Great Lakes region and New York state during the early morning hours. The line of storms entered Berkshire County at about 0700 local time and raced to the southeast portion of the state, including Cape Cod and the islands by around 0930. There was widespread damage to trees and power lines in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties. in Burkshire, a woman was injured in Pittsfield when a tree fell on her car. A wind gust of 92 mph was reported from the town of Otis, where a woman was killed by electrocution while standing in wet grass after an electric power line fell and caught fire. A tree fell on a house in North Adams and a wall of a mall was blown out in Lenoxdale. In Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties, some of the most severe damage occurred in the hill towns or in the higher elevations. Widespread power outages and roads blocked by fallen trees prompted authorities to declare states of emergency in five towns, including Greenfield, Huntington, Ashfield, Conway, and Middlefield. About 30,000 electric customers lost power and a power company in western Massachusetts reported outages in 57 out of 59 of the towns that they serve. Thousands of people remained without power more than 48 hours after the storms moved through, especially in the rural towns which took the brunt of the high winds. In Holyoke, 50 people were left homeless after winds gusting to 70 mph blew the roof off of their apartment building. Three people were injured in Deerfield after their hot air balloon was caught by the winds and went spinning out of control for five miles before crashing into a tree. In Charlemont, a six-year-old boy was injured by lightning while talking on the telephone during the storm. Falling trees and tree limbs damaged houses, barns, and automobiles throughout the area. Scattered wind damage and power outages occurred in the central and eastern portions of the state. Several thousand power outages were reported from central Massachusetts. A peak gust of 59 mph was recorded at the Worcester Municipal Airport at 0804 local time while a peak gust to 85 mph was reported from Upton, just to the southeast of Worcester. In northern Worcester County, a peak gust to 72 mph was recorded at the Fitchburg Airport. Generally, though, most wind gusts were reported to be in the range of 50 to 65 mph. The Blue Hill Observatory, at an elevation of 635 feet in Milton recorded a peak gust to 63 mph. The intensity of the storms was diminishing upon reaching coastal sections of the state, but even Menemsha on Martha's Vineyard recorded a gust to 58 mph and many tree limbs were reported blown down throughout the greater New Bedford area.