Tornado, Litchfield
- When
- May 31, 8:30 PM EST to 8:32 PM EST
- Where
- Litchfield County, 1 mi SW of Washington
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.3 mi
- Path width
- 17 yd
- Property damage
- $4,000
- Coordinates
- 41.600, -73.330
Tornado and Damaging Wind in Connecticut, May 31, 1998
During the morning hours of May 31, a strong low pressure system over the upper Great Lakes pushed a warm front across eastern New York and western New England. This set the stage for severe weather in Litchfield County.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $8,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS ALY wrote it up.
During the morning hours of May 31, a strong low pressure system over the upper Great Lakes pushed a warm front across eastern New York and western New England. This set the stage for severe weather in Litchfield County. An F1 tornado downed a 50 foot wide by quarter mile long swath of trees just southwest of Washington. The damage path was in a west to east direction. A severe thunderstorm downed trees and wires at New Milford. Approximately 700 customers lost power during the storms.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Litchfield
- When
- May 31, 8:50 PM EST
- Where
- Litchfield County, New Milford
- Property damage
- $4,000
- Coordinates
- 41.570, -73.420
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.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 31, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in New York, May 31, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in New York, May 31, 1998
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Massachusetts, May 31, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, May 31, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Vermont, May 31, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Ohio, May 31, 1998
More
Every storm in Connecticut in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Connecticut, 1998Warnings in Connecticut, May 1998
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: 5645157, 5645158.