Tornado, Penobscot
- When
- July 24, 7:45 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Penobscot County, 16 mi NW of Patten
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 6 mi
- Path width
- 75 yd
- Reported by
- PARK/FOREST SERVICE
- Coordinates
- 46.150, -68.683
Tornadoes in Maine, July 24, 2001
Numerous trees were toppled or broken off along the intermittent path of the tornado. The tornado originated in northern Penobscot county and continued intermittently into southeast Aroostook county where it dissipated.
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
- 1
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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 CAR wrote it up.
Numerous trees were toppled or broken off along the intermittent path of the tornado. The tornado originated in northern Penobscot county and continued intermittently into southeast Aroostook county where it dissipated. Most of the path was through wooded areas. However...around Oakfield...several buildings received damage to shingles and siding. Windows were blown out of several structures and some signs were toppled. Several cars parked near the Oakfield community center were damaged from flying debris with some car windows blown out. One car was thrown 50 to 75 feet and landed on its roof. 6 cars received some damage...with 4 of the cars receiving major damage. One injury was reported to an occupant of one of the parked cars. In Dyer Brook...a metal garage was torn off its foundation and blown 100 feet into the woods. Along Spaulding Lake numerous trees were toppled or broken off...with some landing on houses and camps.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Caribou, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 24, 2:00 PM EST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 2:00 PM EST, 5 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME 300 PM EDT TUE JUL 24 2001 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL CROSS MAINE OVERNIGHT WHICH WILL USHER IN COOLER AND LESS HUMID AIR INTO THE REGION. THE FRONT WILL ALSO TRIGGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO EARLY TONIGHT. COOL HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OUT OF CENTRAL CANADA AND CREST OVER MAINE ON SATURDAY. .DISCUSSION... SHOWERS AND STORMS EXPECTED TO BE WIDESPREAD EARLY TONIGHT IN HOT AND HUMID AIRMASS AHEAD OF COLD FRONT. CAPES EXCEEDING 1000J/KG FORECAST BY ETA TIL ABOUT 00Z. WILL MENTION STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN. BY 06Z... FORECAST AREA IN COLD ADVECTION AREA AS DIFFUSE COLD FRONT TAKES BETTER SHAPE. THIS WILL END THE PRECIPITATION CHANCES FOR QUITE SOME TIME. MUCH DRIER AIR WILL ADVECT OVER REGION ON WED. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL ON WED... BUT REAL COOL AIR WILL NOT BE FELT UNTIL THU. FRONT SLOWS SOUTH OF AREA ON WED WHICH WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO WARM SOME...ESPECIALLY DOWN EAST AREA. ETA HINTS AT A WEAK WAVE MOVING ALONG STALLED FRONT TO THE S ON WED NIGHT AND THU WHICH WILL LIKELY SPREAD SOME CLOUDS INTO DOWNEAST AREA. HOWEVER... RAIN SHOULD STAY SOUTH OF AREA. GENERALLY CLEAR AND UNSEASONABLY COOL TEMPERATURES ON TAP FOR THU INTO SAT AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS SE OUT OF CENTRAL CANADA. WOULD NOT BE SUPRISED TO SEE SOME UPPER 30S IN LOW LYING ARREAS EARTLY FRI MORNING OVER NORTH. IN THE LONG TERM...DRY WEATHER SHOULD HOLD THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WITH A WARM FRONT GIVING THE AREA SCATTERED SHOWERS ON MONDAY. NGM MOS NUMBERS APPEAR TOO WARM THROUGH THU CONSIDERAING THE ORIGIN OF THE AIRMASS AND COLD ADVECTION OCCURRING. WILL LEAN MORE TOWARD THE AVN MOS. WILL RAISE POPS TONIGHT IN ADVANCE OF COLD FRONT. COASTAL WATERS... WILL CONTINUE SCA THROUGH TONIGHT FOR SW WINDS 20 TO 25 KT WITH A FEW GUSTS TO 30 KT. .CAR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY. LG
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Aroostook
- When
- July 24, 8:00 PM EST to 8:45 PM EST
- Where
- Aroostook County, 5 mi NW of Oakfield to 5 mi E of Oakfield
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 10 mi
- Path width
- 75 yd
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 46.150, -68.217
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
- Heat in Pennsylvania, July 24 to 25, 2001
- Wildfire in California, July 24 to 31, 2001
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Iowa, July 24, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 24 to 25, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Kentucky, July 24, 2001
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 24, 2001
- Flash Flood in South Dakota, July 24, 2001
- Flood in Alaska, July 24 to 31, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 24, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 24 to 25, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 24 to 25, 2001
- Flood and Hail in Kansas, July 24, 2001
More
Every storm in Maine in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Maine, 2001Warnings in Maine, July 2001
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: 5258541, 5258540.