New Hampshire, 1998

Tornado in New Hampshire, May 31, 1998

May 31, 1998 · NWS BOX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A short-duration minimal F2 tornado moved along a half-mile long track which averaged 85 yards wide in Antrim in northwest Hillsborough County. A National Weather Service survey team investigated the damaging effects of this tornado and spoke with many eyewitnesses.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 BOX wrote it up.

A short-duration minimal F2 tornado moved along a half-mile long track which averaged 85 yards wide in Antrim in northwest Hillsborough County. A National Weather Service survey team investigated the damaging effects of this tornado and spoke with many eyewitnesses. One resident recalled seeing the NWS' Tornado Warning (which specifically mentioned Antrim) scroll on Cable TV a few minutes before the tornado struck. The tornado began at Nahor Hill and travelled north-northeast about a half mile before ending up just past the Great Brook Elementary School. Along the middle of its path, a wooded stretch sustained severe tree damage. Most of the trees were either uprooted or snapped in half...and they fell in different directions. A small boat was flipped over and a camper-trailer was turned around and flipped over. A single family home had some shingles torn off. An apartment complex resident said he saw the metal garbage dumpster rise a short distance while a dark gray-black cloud went by. At the elementary school, a wall was damaged. Only minor damage and no injuries occurred as a result of this tornado, but had the track been only a few hundred yards to the east, it could have caused significant damage to the center of the small town of Antrim.

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 137 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:04 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Hillsborough

When
May 31, 5:03 PM EST to 5:04 PM EST
Where
Hillsborough County, Antrim
Rating
F2
Path length
0.5 mi
Path width
85 yd
Property damage
$30,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
43.030, -71.950

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Hampshire in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for New Hampshire, 1998Warnings in New Hampshire, 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: 5656293.