Tornado and Hail in Massachusetts, June 17, 2001

Name: Tornado and Hail in Massachusetts, June 17, 2001
Start: 2001-06-17T10:40
End: 2001-06-17T13:00
Location: Massachusetts

June 17, 2001 · NWS BOX · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

An isolated severe thunderstorm, associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison, moved across northern Worcester and northwest Middlesex Counties. The tornado occurred between 1141 am and 1143 am in the Coalkiln Road area, in the southeast portion of the town of Princeton.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $425,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

An isolated severe thunderstorm, associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison, moved across northern Worcester and northwest Middlesex Counties. A ground and aerial survey later revealed that a tornado moved through Princeton, and two microbursts occurred in Leominster and Shirley.The tornado occurred between 1141 am and 1143 am in the Coalkiln Road area, in the southeast portion of the town of Princeton. It was rated as an F1 tornado, with winds between 73 and 112 mph. The path length was three-quarters of a mile and the width was as much as 1700 feet. A hundred or more trees were either uprooted or snapped off. A small camper was severely damaged after being lifted up and dropped on a fallen tree. Another tree fell on a house. No injuries occurred. Eyewitnesses, including a trained Skywarn spotter, observed hail as large as ping pong balls just before the tornado struck. There were no visual sightings of a funnel cloud or tornado, which was likely obscured by heavy rain. This was the first tornado to strike Worcester County since August 10, 1990.A microburst occurred in the eastern portion of Leominster near Johnny Appleseed Lane, just west of Interstate 190. Damage was seen in an area roughly one-half by one-third of a mile, as evidenced by the pattern of fallen and uprooted trees. Another microburst occurred in Shirley, near the east shore of Lake Shirley to Center Road and Parker Road. A truck was damaged by a fallen tree, while other trees fell on a car and a mobile home. Two chimneys were also toppled. Torrential rainfall caused street and poor drainage flooding throughout central and eastern Massachusetts, and snarled traffic on Father's Day. Storm totals of 3 to 5 inches were common throughout most of the region. Lightning struck two homes in Middlesex County and caused significant damage. One in Marlborough hit a nearby tree, and traveled into the house through a stone wall, destroying the bathroom. In Reading, lightning struck a 212-year old colonial home at Grove and Forest Streets, setting the roof on fire and causing severe damage.

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 Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 17, 12:53 AM EST, 9 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 12:53 AM EST, 9 hours 47 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
153 AM EDT SUN JUN 17 2001

ST AND FOG ACRS THE FCST AREA RIGHT NOW.  WITH CLDS INCRG AT HIR
LYRS NOT LIKELY TO SEE ANY SUN TDA AND ST WL HAVE A HARD TIME
BURNING OFF.

THE CUTOFF REMAINS OF ALLISON FCST BY MODELS TO BE PICKED UP BY
ONCOMING SWLY FLO ALF INADVN UPR TROF.  THIS WL CAUSE SFC LOW TO
ACLRT NEWD PASSING NR CAPE COD AND ISS TNGT.  AVN MODEL APPRS TO BE
BEST IN TIMING OF PCPN BASED ON WHAT IS OCCURRING AT THIS TIME.  SO
EXPC RAIN TO BEGIN OVR PARTS OF WRN MA AND NRN CT BEFORE 12Z.  PCPN
MOVD IN TOO FAST ON ETA.  EXPC PCPN TO BE HVY AT TIMES TDA.  WITH
THE ALREADY HIGH MOISTURE IN LOW LYRS AND DEW PTS IN LOW 70S
SATURATION WL ALSO OCCUR ALF AS STG OMEGA FIELD MOVS IN.  PPW FCST UP
CLOSE TO 2.0 INCH. OMEGA MAX FCST TO TRACK FM LONG IS NEWD THRU
BOS. APPRS THAT THE 3.2 INCH QPF MAX FCST BY AVN MODEL FOR ERN MA
MAY EVEN BE ON THE CONSERVATIVE SIDE.  THE FFG SHOWS IT WL TAKE 4.0
TO 4.5 INCHES IN 12 HRS IT INITIATE FLOODING.  WL FCST ONLY PSBLTY
OF LCL STREET FLOOD FOR NOW.

TEMPS WL BE COOLER TDA BECAUSE OF CLDS AND RAIN.  RAIN WL END FM W
TNGT AS SFC LOW MOVS TO NOVA SCOTIA.  WARMER AND DRIER AGAIN ON MON
INSPITE OF A DROP OF ABT 2 DEG C AT 850 MB AS LOW LVL WND BCMS NWLY.
PSBLY SEA BREEZE MON LCLY ALG CST.

IT WL CONT TO WARM ON TUE AS HI ALF PASSES TO S AND LOW LVL WND
BACKS TO SWLY AND DEW PTS EDGE UPWARD AGAIN.  THIS WL SET UP CONDS
FOR SHWRS/TSTMS ON WED INADVN WK CDFNT MOVG SEWD TWD SNE.

.BOX...SCA TDA S CST.  SCA MAY BE REQ TNGT E CST.

DMH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 17, 5:47 AM EST, 4 hours 53 minutes before

CTZ002>004-MAZ005>007-009-011>024-RIZ001>007-171800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
525 AM EDT SUN JUN 17 2001

...POOR DRAINAGE FLOODING MAY OCCUR TODAY AND TONIGHT IN URBAN
CENTERS OF EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS RHODE ISLAND AND NORTHERN
CONNECTICUT...

THE REMNANTS OF FORMER TROPICAL STORM ALLISON WILL MOVE INTO
SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TODAY.  IT WILL BE ENHANCED BY A COLD FRONT
APPROACHING FROM THE WEST.  RAIN WILL SPREAD ACROSS WESTERN
MASSACHUSETTS AND NORTHERN CONNECTICUT EARLY THIS MORNING AND INTO
RHODE ISLAND AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS LATER IN THE DAY. RAIN WILL
BECOME HEAVIER AS THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER PASSES JUST SOUTH OF RHODE
ISLAND AND REACHES CAPE COD TONIGHT.

THE RAIN WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY LATE IN THE DAY...OVER
EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS AND WILL PROBABLY BE ACCOMPANIED BY THUNDER.
GREATEST AMOUNTS WILL FALL IN 200 MILE WIDE CORRIDOR EXTENDING FROM
BOSTON TO LONG ISLAND.  STORM TOTALS IN THIS REGION COULD BE CLOSE
TO 4 INCHES. THE RAIN WILL LAST FROM 12 TO 18 HOURS.

THIS WEATHER SYSTEM WILL FINALLY MOVE OUT TO SEA MONDAY FOLLOWED BY
LOWER HUMIDITY BUT STILL WARM WEATHER OVER MOST OF THE AREA LATE
MONDAY AFTERNOON.

CORRECTED EXPIRATION TIME

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Worcester

When: June 17, 10:40 AM EST
Where: Worcester County, Princeton
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.450, -71.867

Tornado, Worcester

When: June 17, 10:41 AM EST to 10:43 AM EST
Where: Worcester County, Princeton
Rating: F1
Path length: 0.8 mi
Path width: 600 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 42.450, -71.867

Brief F1 touchdown

Thunderstorm Wind, Middlesex

When: June 17, 11:15 AM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Shirley
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.533, -71.650

Lightning, Middlesex

When: June 17, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Marlborough
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.486, -71.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Massachusetts in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Massachusetts, 2001 Warnings in Massachusetts, June 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: 5250300, 5250299, 5250301, 5250302.