Tornado and Hail in Massachusetts, October 7, 2020

Southwest winds gusted to 40-50 mph ahead of an approaching front. In Falmouth, a large tree was down on Gifford Street at AmVets Avenue.

In Rowe, multiple small trees were down on Ford Hill Road. Also, several 3 to 4 inch branches were down, with power outages.

Im Worthington, a tree and wires were reported down on Sawyer Road, Thayer Hill Road, and Old Main Road.

In Colrain, multiple trees, utility poles, and wires were down on Adamsville Road and Foundry Village Road.

In Plainfield, a tree was down on Route 116.

In Conway, a tree was down on Baptist Hill Road.

In Bernardston, a tree was down, blocking the southbound offramp to Interstate 91 (Exit 28).

In Ashfield, trees were down on Hawley Road.

In Worthington, a tree and wires were down on West Street.

In Greenfield, a tree was down on a car on Interstate 91 southbound. No injuries reported.

In the Leeds section of Northampton, a tree was down on Chesterfield Road.

In both Deerfield and Whately, multiple trees were down in Interstate 91, with the highway blocked.

In Agawam, a tree was down on three cars on Pine Street at Barry Street. No injuries were reported. Also, trees were down in the Feeding Hills and other sections of town.

There was a significant amount of damage in Easthampton. A tree was down on a car on Florence Road. A power line was down on a car on Lyman Street. A large tree was down on Route 10 about one-half mile north of Union Street. Numerous trees were down on Route 141.

At 502 PM EDT, a Weatherflow mesonet site atop Mount Tom in Holyoke, MA measured a peak wind gust of 88 mph.

In Huntington, a tree was down on Route 112.

In Amherst, a tree and wires were down on North Pleasant Street and a tree was down on Northampton Road (Route 9) just east of Dana Street.

In Westhampton, dime size hail was reported on Easthampton Road.

In Chicopee at 511 PM EDT, the AWOS at the Westover Air Reserve Base (KCEF) recorded a wind gust to 63 mph.

In Westfield at 513 PM EDT, the ASOS at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (KBAF) recorded a wind gust to 74 mph.

In Springfield, a tree was down on Liberty Street. A tree and wires were down on Birchland Avenue. A tree split and landed on a house on Jeffrey Road.

In Hardwick a tree was down on wires on River Run Road.

In Fitchburg at 524 PM EDT, the ASOS at the Fitchburg Airport (KFIT) recorded a wind gust to 60 mph.

In Worcester at 527 PM EDT, the ASOS at the Worcester Regional Airport recorded a wind gust to 70 mph.

The Devens Fire Chief reported five injuries from Fort Devens when a military-grade tent was lifted up and blown down an embankment by thunderstorm winds. It occurred during a training exercise. Five people were taken to the hospital, treated, and released. Four of the injuries were minor, but one trainee, who was holding onto the tent, was also lifted up and blown 40 feet down the embankment, and received a concussion.

In Southwick, there were multiple reports of trees down...on Ed Holcomb Road, Hillside Road, at the Ranch Golf Club, Miller Road, and at the Southwick Acres Campground.

In Worcester, numerous tree limbs were down across the city. On Beechmont Street, a tree limb fell onto a house. On Pleasant Street, a tree limb also fell onto a house. Other limbs were down on Brantwood Road, Main Street, Varnum Street, June Street, Maxwell Street, and Holly Terrace.

In East Longmeadow, a tree fell onto a garage and a truck at Westernview Circle.

In Hudson at 537 PM EDT, an amateur radio operator reported a wind gust to 60 mph.

In Ludlow, trees were down on Colonial Drive.

In Boylston, trees were snapped on Green Street.

In Sterling, multiple trees and wires were down on Kilburn Road, Tuttle Road, and North Row Road.

In Walpole, a teacher from the Norfolk County Agricultural High School reported that nearly 100 trees were blown down across town.

In Webster, a tree was on 3rd Street, on Loveland Street, and a tree was down on a house on Anthony Street.

In Oxford, multiple trees and wires were down across town.

In North Grafton, a tree was down at the intersection of Jay Street and Francis Street.

In Westminster, multiple trees were down on Worcester Road (Route 140).

In Fitchburg, a tree and wires were down on Ash Street and a one foot diameter branch was down on Milk Street, with wires down.

In Lancaster, a small tree was down on Brockelman Road.

Based on information received from emergency management officials and based on Doppler radar imagery, the National Weather Service conducted a survey on Oct. 15 and was able to determine that a weak tornado circulation occurred in a small portion of the town of Millis, MA on October 7. It was embedded within the larger area of derecho/straight-line wind damages that occurred. It was on the ground for less than a minute, traveled about one-half mile, had a path width of only 50 yards, and estimated maximum wind speeds of 75 to 80 mph.

The tornado began near Orchard Street, just to the west of Ridge Street, and traveled east-southeastward to the Oak Grove Playground/Millis Historical Commission on Exchange Street. On Orchard Street, the tops of a few large trees were sheared off. According to one resident, she had two trees down from west to east in her back yard, but she observed the wind change directions and the aforementioned tree tops were blown northward, landing in her yard. At the Oak Grove Playground, a large tree was downed from west to east but a metal lamp post was blown northwestward toward that tree. Other trees were observed down from as far west as Tupello Road to as far south as Causeway Street and Island Road. Damage reportedly went as far east as Environmental Drive, Larch Road, and Dwight Street, but that had since been cleaned up. Those damage areas likely were associated with the broader straight-line winds of the large-scale derecho that impacted much of Massachusetts, northeast Connecticut, and northern Rhode Island on October 7th.

In Northbridge, a tree was down on School Street.

Dime size hail was reported in Rutland.

In Mendon at 553 PM EDT, a mesonet site recorded a wind gust to 58 mph.

In Medfield, multiple trees were down around South Street.

In Leominster, a tree was down on Mountain View Road.

In West Concord, a tree was uprooted and a tree was split in half on Wright Road and a telephone pole was down on Laws Brook Road.

In Needham, multiple trees were down on Laurel Drive.

At 6 PM EDT in Boston, the ASOS at Logan International Airport (KBOS) recorded a wind gust to 66 mph.

In Wrentham at 601 PM EDT, a mesonet site measured a wind gust to 58 mph.

In Norwood at 601 PM EDT, the ASOS at Norwood Airport (KOWD) recorded a wind gust to 58 mph.

In Milton, atop the Blue Hill, the ASOS at the Blue Hill Observatory (KMQE) recorded a wind gust to 68 mph.

In Walpole, multiple trees were down, snapped, or uprooted from Mill Brook Avenue to Pine Hill Drive. Four trees were downed onto houses.

In Braintree at 605 PM EDT, a resident reported a 64 mph wind gust on their home anemometer. Damage in the immediate area was mostly downed tree limbs.

In Hingham at 612 PM EDT, an amateur radio operator reported a wind gust to 65 mph.

In Cambridge, a tree was down on Cambridge Terrace.

In Quincy, the top half of a tree was down on Marion Street. A 10-inch diameter branch was down on Prospect Street.

In Foxboro, multiple trees were down on South Street between Foxboro High School and the Taylor School.

In Taunton, a tree was down on wires on Redwood Drive, with the wires smoking.

In Plymouth at 633 PM EDT, the ASOS at the Plymouth Airport (KPYM) recorded a wind gust to 60 mph.

In Provincetown at 645 PM EDT, the office received a report of a wind gust to 63 mph, but the source was unable to be identified.

In the West Island portion of Fairhaven, an amateur radio operator recorded a wind gust to 60 mph.

In Dennis at 713 PM EDT, a mesonet station recorded a wind gust to 64 mph.

In Nantucket at 741 PM EDT, the ASOS at the Nantucket Airport (KACK) recorded a wind gust to 60 mph.